acronis.com

Acronis True Image OEM

User Guide

REVISION: 2/21/2022

Table of contents
Introduction

8

What is Acronis True Image OEM?

8

System requirements and supported media

8

Minimum system requirements

8

Supported operating systems

9

Supported file systems

10

Supported Internet connection types

10

Supported storage media

10

Installing and removing Acronis True Image OEM

11

Activating Acronis True Image OEM

12

Too many activations issue

13

Upgrading Acronis True Image OEM

13

Built-in store

14

Acronis True Image advanced features

14

Technical Support

15

Getting started

16

User interface language

16

Protecting your system

16

Backing up your computer

16

Creating Acronis bootable media

18

Backing up all data on your PC

18

Backing up your files

19

Cloning your hard drive21

Why do I need it?

21

Before you start

21

Cloning a disk

21

Recovering your computer

23

Basic concepts
The difference between file backups and disk/partition images

26

Full, incremental and differential backups

27

Full method

28

Incremental method28

Differential method

29

Changed Block Tracker (CBT)30

Deciding where to store your backups
2

25

31
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Preparing a new disk for backup

32

FTP connection

32

Authentication settings

33

Acronis Nonstop Backup

34

Nonstop Backup limitations

34

How it works

34

Retention rules

34

Acronis Nonstop Backup data storage

35

Nonstop Backup - Frequently asked questions

36

Backup file naming

37

Integration with Windows

37

Windows Start menu

38

Acronis True Image OEM button on the taskbar

38

Tray Notification Center

38

Shortcut menu commands

38

File-level recovery in File Explorer

38

Wizards

38

FAQ about backup, recovery and cloning

39

Backing up data

3

42

Backing up disks and partitions

42

Backing up files and folders

43

Backup options

45

Scheduling46

Backup schemes

48

Notifications for backup operation

54

Excluding items from backup

54

Image creation mode

56

Backup protection

56

Online backup protection

57

Pre/Post commands for backup

57

Backup splitting

58

Backup validation option

59

Backup reserve copy

60

Removable media settings

60

Error handling

61

File-level security settings for backup

62Computer shutdown

63© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Performance of backup operation

63

Selecting a data center for backup

65

Laptop power settings

66

Operations with backups

66

Backup operations menu

66

Backup activity and statistics

67

Sorting backups in the list

69

Validating backups

69

Backup to various places

70

Adding an existing backup to the list

70

Cleaning up backups, backup versions, and replicas

70

Recovering data
Recovering disks and partitions

73
73

Recovering your system after a crash

73

Recovering partitions and disks

85

About recovery of dynamic/GPT disks and volumes

87

Arranging boot order in BIOS or UEFI BIOS

90

Recovering files and folders

91

Searching backup content

92

Recovery options

93

Disk recovery mode

93

Pre/Post commands for recovery

93

Validation option

94

Computer restart

94

File recovery options

94

Overwrite file options

95

Performance of recovery operation

95

Notifications for recovery operation

96

Protection

99

The Protection dashboard

99

Active protection

99

Anti-ransomware protection
Antivirus scans

99
100

Configuring Antivirus scans

101

Managing files in Quarantine

102

Disk cloning and migration

103

Disk cloning utility
4103© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Clone Disk wizard

103

Manual partitioning

105

Excluding items from cloning

106

Migrating your system from an HDD to an SSD

108

SSD size

108

Which migration method to choose

108

What to do if Acronis True Image OEM does not recognize your SSD

108

Migrating to SSD using the backup and recovery method

110

Tools

111

Acronis Media Builder
Creating Acronis bootable media

112

Acronis bootable media startup parameters

114

Adding drivers to an existing .wim image

115

Creating an .iso file from a .wim file

116

Making sure that your bootable media can be used when needed

117

Selecting video mode when booting from the bootable media

121

Acronis Startup Recovery Manager

122

Additional information

123

Adding a new hard disk

124

Selecting a hard disk

124

Selecting initialization method

125

Creating new partitions

126

Security and Privacy Tools

129

Acronis DriveCleanser

129

System Clean-up

134

Mounting an image

142

How to mount an image

143

Unmounting an image

143

Working with .vhd(x) files

144

How to use .vhd(x) files

144

Limitations and additional information

144

Converting Acronis backup

144

Importing and exporting backup settings
Troubleshooting

5

111

145
147

Resolving the most frequent issues

147

Acronis System Report147

Acronis Smart Error Reporting148© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

When you have an Internet connection

148

When you do not have an Internet connection

149

How to collect crash dumps

149

Glossary

150

Index

154

6

© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Copyright statement© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022. All rights reserved.
All trademarks and copyrights referred to are the property of their respective owners.
Distribution of substantively modified versions of this document is prohibited without the explicit
permission of the copyright holder.
Distribution of this work or derivative work in any standard (paper) book form for commercial
purposes is prohibited unless prior permission is obtained from the copyright holder.
DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED CONDITIONS,REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, ARE DISCLAIMED, EXCEPT TO THE
EXTENT THAT SUCH DISCLAIMERS ARE HELD TO BE LEGALLY INVALID.
Third party code may be provided with the Software and/or Service. The license terms for suchthird-parties are detailed in the license.txt file located in the root installation directory. You canalways find the latest up-to-date list of the third party code and the associated license terms usedwith the Software and/or Service at https://kb.acronis.com/content/7696

Acronis patented technologies
Technologies, used in this product, are covered and protected by one or more U.S. Patent Numbers:
7,047,380; 7,246,211; 7,275,139; 7,281,104; 7,318,135; 7,353,355; 7,366,859; 7,383,327; 7,475,282;
7,603,533; 7,636,824; 7,650,473; 7,721,138; 7,779,221; 7,831,789; 7,836,053; 7,886,120; 7,895,403;
7,934,064; 7,937,612; 7,941,510; 7,949,635; 7,953,948; 7,979,690; 8,005,797; 8,051,044; 8,069,320;
8,073,815; 8,074,035; 8,074,276; 8,145,607; 8,180,984; 8,225,133; 8,261,035; 8,296,264; 8,312,259;
8,347,137; 8,484,427; 8,645,748; 8,732,121; 8,850,060; 8,856,927; 8,996,830; 9,213,697; 9,400,886;
9,424,678; 9,436,558; 9,471,441; 9,501,234; and patent pending applications.

7© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Introduction
What is Acronis True Image OEM?
Acronis True Image OEM is a complete cyber protection solution that ensures the security of all yourinformation. It can back up your documents, photos, emails, and selected partitions, and even theentire disk drive, including operating system, applications, settings, and all of your data. One of its
main advantages is the data protection and security features.
Backups allow you to recover your computer system should a disaster occur, such as losing data,
accidentally deleting critical files or folders, or suffering a complete hard disk crash.
Online Backup allows you to store your files and disks on Acronis Cloud. Your data will be protectedeven if your computer is lost, stolen, or destroyed, and your data can be entirely recovered onto a
new device, if needed.
Key features:lDisk backup to a local storage and to Acronis Cloudl

File backup to a local storage and to Acronis Cloudl

Acronis bootable medialHard disk cloningl

Security and privacy tools

Note
You cannot create backups to Acronis Cloud with Acronis Startup Recovery Manager and Acronisbootable media.
Learn how to protect your computer with two simple steps: "Protecting your system".

System requirements and supported media
Minimum system requirements
Acronis True Image OEM requires the following hardware.
l

The OEM devicelIntel CORE 2 Duo (2GHz) processor or equivalent
The CPU must support SSE instructions.

l

2 GB RAMl

7 GB of free space on the system hard diskl

CD-RW/DVD-RW drive or USB drive for bootable media creation

8oRequired free space for Linux is about 660 MB.

oRequired free space for Windows is about 700 MB.

© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

lScreen resolution is 1024 x 768

lMouse or other pointing device (recommended)

Warning!
Successful backup and recovery are not guaranteed for the installations on virtual machines.

Other requirementsl

An internet connection is required for the product activation, for downloading protection
updates, and for all features that use Acronis Cloud.

l

You need to have administrator privileges to run Acronis True Image OEM.

Supported operating systems
Acronis True Image OEM has been tested on the following operating systems.
lWindows 11

lWindows 10

lWindows 8.1

lWindows 8lWindows 7 SP1 (all editions)lWindows Home Server 2011

Notel

Beta builds are not supported. See https://kb.acronis.com/content/60589.

lWindows Embedded, IoT editions, Windows 10 LTSB, Windows 10 LTSC, and Windows 10 in S
mode are not supported.

l

To use Acronis True Image OEM on Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1, you will need thefollowing security updates from Microsoft: KB4474419 and KB4490628. See
https://kb.acronis.com/content/69302.

Acronis True Image OEM also lets you create a bootable CD-R/DVD-R or USB drive that can back up
and recover a disk/partition on a computer running any Intel- or AMD- based PC operating system,
including Linux®. Note that the Intel-based Apple Macintosh is not supported.
It is possible for the software to work on other Windows operating systems, but it is not guaranteed.
Warning!
Successful recovery is guaranteed only for the supported operating systems. Other operating
systems can be backed up using a sector-by-sector approach, but they may become unbootable
after recovery.

9© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Supported file systems
l

NTFS

l

Ext2/Ext3/Ext4l

ReiserFS(3)1lLinux SWAP2l

HFS+/HFSX3l

FAT16/32/exFAT4

If a file system is not supported or is corrupted, Acronis True Image OEM can copy data using asector-by-sector approach.

Supported Internet connection types
The table below shows which Internet connection types are supported by the product functions.
Internet connection type
Acronis Console in Windows

Acronis bootable media

Any connection established

Proxy

Ethernet

in Windows

server

cable

+

-

-

-

-

+

-

+

+

-

+

-

-

-

-

Data synchronization

+

-

-

-

-

Product activation

+

-

-

-

-

Product update

+

-*

-

-

-

Disk-level and file-level backup to

Wi-Fi

Proxy
serverAcronis Cloud
Disk-level recovery from Acronis
CloudFile-level recovery from Acronis
Cloud

Supported storage medialHard disk drives (HDD)lSolid-state drives (SSD)lNetworked storage devices

1File systems are supported only for disk or partition backup/recovery operations.
2File systems are supported only for disk or partition backup/recovery operations.
3Disk recovery, partition recovery, and cloning operations are supported without resizing.
4Disk recovery, partition recovery, and cloning operations are supported without resizing.

10© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

l

FTP servers
Note
The FTP server must allow passive mode file transfers. Acronis True Image OEM splits a backup
into files with a size of 2GB when backing up directly to an FTP server.

l

CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R (including double-layer DVD+R), DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, BD-R, BD-REl

USB 1.1 / 2.0 / 3.0, USB-C, eSATA, FireWire (IEEE-1394), SCSI, and PC card storage devices

Limitations on operations with dynamic diskslCreation of Acronis Secure Zone on dynamic disks is not supported.

l

Recovery of a dynamic volume as a dynamic volume with manual resizing is not supported.

l

Try&Decide® cannot be used for protecting dynamic disks.

lDisk cloning operation is not supported for dynamic disks.

The firewall settings of the source computer should have Ports 20 and 21 opened for the TCP and
UDP protocols to function. The Routing and Remote Access Windows service should be disabled.

Installing and removing Acronis True Image OEM
To install Acronis True Image OEM
1. Run the setup file.
2. Click Install.
Acronis True Image OEM will be installed on your system partition (usually C:).
3. When the installation is complete, click Start application.
4. Read and accept the terms of the license agreements for Acronis True Image OEM and Bonjour.
Bonjour software will be installed on your computer for advanced support of NAS devices. You
can uninstall the software at any time.
5. On the Sign in tab, enter your account credentials, and then click Sign in.
6. If you don't have an account, go to the Create account tab, fill out the registration form, andthen click Create account.
Note
You can skip this step if you have a 64-character serial number.
7. Enter your serial number, and then click Activate. To activate Acronis True Image OEM with a 16character serial number, you need an Internet connection. The full 64-character serial number
will be obtained and activated automatically.
To recover from an Acronis True Image OEM error
If Acronis True Image OEM ceased running or produced errors, its files might be corrupted. To
repair this problem, you first have to recover the program. To do this, run Acronis True Image OEM11© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

installer again. It will detect Acronis True Image OEM on your computer and will ask you if you want
to repair or remove it.
To remove Acronis True Image OEMl

If you use Windows 11, click Start > Settings > Apps > Apps and Features > Acronis True
Image OEM > Uninstall.

l

If you use Windows 10, click Start > Settings > System > Apps > Acronis True Image OEM >Uninstall.

l

If you use Windows 8, click the Settings icon, then select Control Panel > Uninstall a program >Acronis True Image OEM > Uninstall.

l

If you use Windows 7, click Start > Control Panel > Uninstall a program > Acronis True Image
OEM > Uninstall.

Then follow the instructions on the screen. You may have to restart your computer afterwards tocomplete the task.

Activating Acronis True Image OEM
To use Acronis True Image OEM, you need to activate it via the Internet. Without activation the fully
functional product works for 30 days. If you do not activate it during that period, all the program
functions become unavailable except the recovery.
You can activate Acronis True Image OEM either on your computer or from another computer, if
your computer is not connected to the Internet.
Activation on a computer connected to the Internet
If your computer is connected to the Internet, the product will be activated automatically.
If the computer where you install Acronis True Image OEM does not have Internet connection or if
the program cannot connect to Acronis Activation Server, click Account on the sidebar, and thenselect one of the following actions:l

Try again - select this option to try to connect to the Acronis Activation Server again.

lActivate offline - you can activate the program manually from another computer that isconnected to the Internet (see below).

Activation from another computer
If your computer is not connected to the Internet, you may activate Acronis True Image OEM byusing another computer which has connection to the Internet.
To activate the product from another computer
1. On your computer, install and start Acronis True Image OEM.
2. On the sidebar, click Account, and then click Activate offline.
3. In the Acronis True Image OEM activation window, perform 3 simple steps:

12© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

a. Save your installation code to a file by clicking the Save to file button, and specify aremovable media as the file location (for example, a USB flash drive). You may also simply
write down this code on a piece of paper.
b. On another computer which has the Internet connection, go tohttps://www.acronis.com/activation/. The instructions on the screen will help you to get youractivation code by using the installation code. Save the obtained activation code to a file on aremovable media, or write it down on paper.
c. On your computer, click the Load from file button and specify a path to the file with theactivation code; or, simply type it into the box from the piece of paper.
4. Click Activate.

Too many activations issue
Possible reasons for the "Too many activations" issue:lYou exceed the maximum number of computers with installed Acronis True Image OEM.
For example, you have one license or a serial number for one computer and you install Acronis
True Image OEM on a second computer.
Solutions:oEnter a new serial number. If you do not have one, you can buy it in the Acronis built-in store.

oMove the license to your new computer from another one on which the product is alreadyactivated. To do this, select the computer from which you want to move the license. Note that
Acronis True Image OEM will be deactivated on that computer.

l

You reinstall Windows or change hardware of your computer.
For example, you might upgrade motherboard or processor in your computer. Activation is lost,
because Acronis True Image OEM sees your computer as a new one.
Solution:
To reactivate Acronis True Image OEM on your computer, choose from the list the same
computer by its old name.

Upgrading Acronis True Image OEM
You can upgrade Acronis True Image OEM to Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office.
Your backups created with a previous version of Acronis True Image OEM are completely
compatible with the newer version of Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office. After you upgrade, all of
your backups will automatically be added to your backup list.
We strongly recommend that you create а new bootable media after each product upgrade.
To purchase the full version
1. Start Acronis True Image OEM.
2. On the sidebar, click Account, and then click Upgrade. The built-in store opens.

13© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

3. Select the license that you want to buy, and then click Buy now.
4. Provide your payment information.

Built-in store
Acronis True Image OEM provides an in-app store.
To access the in-app store, go to the Account tab, and then click Upgrade. You will see the in-app
store and all available purchase options.

Acronis True Image advanced features
Advanced features of Acronis True Image are unavailable in your product edition. You can get thesefeatures by upgrading your edition to Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office. After upgrade, thefollowing features will be available for you:l

Online Backup
Online Backup allows you to store your files and disks on Acronis Cloud. Your data will beprotected even if your computer is lost, stolen, or destroyed, and your data can be entirely
recovered onto a new device, if needed.

lFile backup
Instead of backing up entire partitions and disks, you can back up specific files and folders, bothto a local storage and Acronis Cloud.

l

Cloud archiving
Data archiving is a tool that allows you to move your big or rarely used files to Acronis Cloud.
Every time you run this tool, it analyzes the data in the selected folder and suggests uploading thefound files to Acronis Cloud. You can select the files and folders that you want to archive. After
uploading, the local copies of these files will be deleted. Afterwards, when you need to open orchange an archived file, you can download it back to your local storage device or access andmanage it right in Acronis Cloud.

l

Local archiving
When you archive your old, large, or rarely used files, Acronis Cloud is not the only possible
destination. You can also select local storage, including NAS, an external hard drive, or a USB
flash drive. Your local archives are placed into Acronis Archive, which can be accessed in File
Explorer under Favorites, along with your cloud archive.

l

Family data protection
Family data protection is a unified cross-platform solution that allows you to track and control theprotection status of all computers, smartphones, and tablets sharing the same Acronis account.
Since users of these devices must be signed in to the same account, usually they are members of
the same family. In general, each of them can use this feature, but there is often a family member
who is more experienced in technology than the others. So, it's reasonable to make that person
responsible for protection of the family data. To track and control the protection status of yourfamily's devices, use the web-based Online Dashboard, which is accessible from any computerconnected to the Internet.

14© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

lData synchronization
You can have the same data - documents, photos, videos, etc. - on all of your computers. Your
data is within easy reach anywhere and anytime. No more emailing files to yourself or carrying an
USB drive all the time.
You can create as many syncs as you need and store your synced files and versions of those files
on Acronis Cloud. This lets you roll back to a previous file version whenever you need it. You canalso access the Cloud using a web browser, without having to install the application.

lAcronis Survival Kit
To recover your computer in case of a failure, you need to have two crucial components—abackup of your system disk and Acronis bootable media. Acronis Survival Kit is an external harddisk drive that contains both components so that you could have a single device that has
everything that you need to recover your computer.

lAcronis Universal Restore
Acronis Universal Restore allows you to create a bootable system clone on different hardware.
Use this utility when recovering your system disk to a computer with a dissimilar processor,
different motherboard or a different mass storage device than in the system you originallybacked up. This may be useful, for example, after replacing a failed motherboard or when
deciding to migrate the system from one computer to another.

lAcronis True Image OEM for mobile devices
Acronis Mobile allows you to back up your mobile data to Acronis Cloud or local storage, and thenrecover it in case of loss or corruption. You can install Acronis Mobile on any mobile devices thatruns either iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod) or the Android (mobile phones and tablets) operating
systems.

l

Try&Decide
When you turn Try&Decide on, your computer is in the Try mode. After that you can perform any
potentially dangerous operations without worrying that you might damage your operating
system, programs or data. When you turn Try&Decide off, you decide if you want to apply thechanges to your computer or you want to discard them.

lAcronis Secure Zone
The Acronis Secure Zone is a special secure partition that you can create on your computer forstoring backups.

lSystem Clean-up
The System Clean-up wizard enables you to securely remove all traces of your PC actions,
including user names, passwords, and other personal information.

Technical Support
If you need assistance with Acronis True Image OEM, refer to the official support resources of yourvendor.

15© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Getting started
User interface language
Before you start, select a preferred language for the Acronis True Image OEM user interface. Bydefault, the language is set in accordance with your Windows display language.
To change the user interface language
1. Start Acronis True Image OEM.
2. In the Settings section, select a preferred language from the list.

Protecting your system
1. Back up your computer.
2. Create Acronis bootable media.
It is recommended to test the bootable media as described in Making sure that your bootable
media can be used when needed.

Backing up your computer
When should I back up my computer?
Create a new backup version after every significant event in your system.
Examples of these events include:l

You bought a new computer.

l

You reinstalled Windows on your computer.

l

You configured all system settings (for example, time, date, language) and installed all necessary
programs on your new computer.

l

Important system update.

Note
To ensure you save a healthy state of a disk, it is a good idea to scan it for viruses before backing it
up. Use antivirus software for this purpose. Note this operation often takes a significant amount oftime.
How do I create a backup of my computer?
You have two options to protect your system:lEntire PC backup (recommended)
Acronis True Image OEM backs up all your internal hard drives in disk mode. The backup contains
the operating system, installed programs, system settings, and all your personal data including
your photos, music, and documents.

16© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

lSystem disk backup
You can choose to back up your system partition or the entire system drive. Refer to Backing up
disks and partitions for details.

We do not recommend using nonstop backup as a primary way to protect your system, because themain purpose of this technology is protection of frequently changed files. For the safety of yoursystem, use any other schedule. See examples in "Examples of custom schemes" (p. 52). Refer to"Acronis Nonstop Backup" (p. 34) for more details about the Nonstop Backup feature.
To back up your computer
1. Start Acronis True Image OEM.
2. On the sidebar, click Backup.
If this is your first backup, you will see the backup configuration screen. If you already have somebackups in the backup list, then click Add backup.
3. Click the Backup source icon, and then select Entire PC.
If you want to back up your system disk only, then click Disks and partitions, and then selectyour system partition (usually C:) and the System Reserved partition (if any).
4. Click the Backup destination icon, and then select a storage place for the backup (seerecommendation below).
5. Click Back up now.
As a result, a new backup box appears in the backup list. To create a new version of the backup in
future, select the backup box from the list, and then click Back up now.
Where do I store my disk backups?
lGood—Your ordinary internal hard disk.

lBetter—Acronis Secure Zone. This is a special secure partition on your local hard drive for storing
backups.

l

The best—Acronis Cloud or an external hard disk.

Refer to Deciding where to store your backups for details.
How many backup versions do I need?
In most cases, you need 2-3 backup versions of your entire PC contents or your system disk, with amaximum of 4-6 (see above for information about when to create backups). You can control thenumber of backup versions by using automatic cleanup rules. Refer to Custom schemes for details.
Remember, the first backup version (the full backup version) is the most important. It is the biggest
one, because it contains all data stored on the disk. Further backup versions (the incremental anddifferential backup versions) may be organized in different schemes. These versions contain only
data changes. That’s why they are dependent on the full backup version and why the full backup
version is so important.
By default, a disk backup is created by using the incremental scheme. This scheme is optimal, in
most cases.

17© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Note
For advanced users: it is a good idea to create 2-3 full backup versions and store them on different
storage devices. This method is much more reliable.

Creating Acronis bootable media
Acronis bootable media is a CD, DVD, USB flash drive, or other removable media from which you
can run Acronis True Image OEM when Windows cannot start. You can make a media bootable byusing Acronis Media Builder.
To create Acronis bootable media
1. Insert a CD/DVD or plug in a USB drive (USB flash drive, or an HDD/SSD external drive).
2. Start Acronis True Image OEM.
3. On the sidebar, click Tools, and then click Rescue Media Builder.
4. On the first step, select Simple.
5. Select the device to use to create the bootable media.
6. Click Proceed.
To use Acronis bootable media
Use Acronis bootable media to recover your computer when Windows cannot start.
1. Connect the bootable media to your computer (insert the CD/DVD or plug in the USB drive).
2. Arrange the boot order in BIOS so that your Acronis bootable media is the first device to bebooted.
Refer to Arranging boot order in BIOS for details.
3. Boot your computer from the bootable media and select Acronis True Image OEM.
Once Acronis True Image OEM is loaded, you can use it to recover your computer.
Refer to Acronis Media Builder for details.

Backing up all data on your PC
What is an Entire PC backup?
An Entire PC backup is the easiest way to back up the full contents of your computer. We
recommend that you choose this option when you are not sure which data that you need to protect.
If you want to back up your system partition only, refer to Backing up disks and partitions fordetails.
When you select Entire PC as a backup type, Acronis True Image OEM backs up all your internal hard
drives in disk mode. The backup contains the operating system, installed programs, system settings,
and all your personal data including your photos, music, and documents.
The recovery from an Entire PC backup is also simplified. You only need to choose the date to which
you want to revert your data. Acronis True Image OEM recovers all data from the backup to the18© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

original location. Note that you cannot select specific disks or partitions to recover and you cannotchange the default destination. If you need to avoid these limitations, we recommend that you backup your data with an ordinary disk-level backup method. Refer to Backing up disks and partitions fordetails.
If an Entire PC backup contains dynamic disks, you recover your data in partition mode. This meansthat you can select partitions to recover and change recovery destination. Refer to About recovery
of dynamic/GPT disks and volumes for details.
To create an Entire PC backup
1. Start Acronis True Image OEM.
2. On the sidebar, click Backup.
3. Click the plus sign at the bottom of the backup list.
4. Click the Backup source icon, and then select Entire PC.
5. Click the Backup destination icon, and then select a destination for the backup.

6. [optional step] Click Options to set the options for the backup. For more information see Backup
options.
7. Click Back up now.

Backing up your files
To protect files such as documents, photos, music files, and video files, there is no need to back up
the entire partition containing the files. You can back up specific files and folders and save them tothe following storage types:

19© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

lLocal or network storage
This option is fast and easy. Use it to protect rarely changed files.

lAcronis CloudThis option is reliable. Use it to protect critical files and files that you want to share between
devices or people.
To use Acronis Cloud, you must have an Acronis account and a subscription to the Acronis Cloud
service.

To back up files and folders
1. Start Acronis True Image OEM.
2. On the sidebar, click Backup.
3. Click the Backup source icon, and then select Files and folders.
4. In the opened window, select the check boxes next to the files and folders that you want to backup, and then click OK.
5. Click the Backup destination icon, and then select a destination for backup:lAcronis Cloud—Sign in to your account, and then click OK.

lYour external drive—When an external drive is plugged into your computer, you can select itfrom the list.

l

NAS—Select an NAS from the list of found NAS devices. If you have only one NAS, Acronis
True Image OEM will suggest using it as a backup destination by default.

lBrowse—Select a destination from the folder tree.

6. Click Back up now.
Refer to Backing up files and folders for details.

20© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Cloning your hard drive
Why do I need it?
When you see that the free space on your hard drive is not enough for your data, you might want tobuy a new, larger hard drive and transfer all your data to the new drive. The usual copy operation
does not make your new hard drive identical to the old one. For example, if you open File Explorer
and copy all files and folders to the new hard drive, Windows will not start from the new hard drive.
The Clone disk utility allows you to duplicate all your data and make Windows bootable on your new
hard drive.

Before you start
We recommend that you install the target (new) drive where you plan to use it and the source drivein another location, for example, in an external USB enclosure. This is especially important for
laptops.
Note
It is recommended that your old and new hard drives work in the same controller mode (forexample, IDE or AHCI). Otherwise, your computer might not start from the new hard drive.

Cloning a disk
1. On the sidebar, click Tools, and then click Clone disk.
2. On the Clone Mode step, we recommend that you choose the Automatic transfer mode. In thiscase, the partitions will be proportionally resized to fit your new hard drive. The Manual mode
provides more flexibility. Refer to Clone Disk wizard for more details about the manual mode.

21© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Note
If the program finds two disks, one partitioned and another unpartitioned, it will automaticallyrecognize the partitioned disk as the source disk and the unpartitioned disk as the destination
disk. In this case, the next steps will be bypassed and you will be taken to the cloning Summary
screen.
3. On the Source Disk step, select the disk that you want to clone.

4. On the Destination Disk step, select the destination disk for the cloned data.
Note
If any disk is unpartitioned, the program will automatically recognize it as the destination andbypass this step.
5. On the Finish step, ensure that the configured settings suit your needs, and then click Proceed.
By default, Acronis True Image OEM shuts down the computer after the clone process finishes. This
enables you to change the position of master/subordinate jumpers and remove one of the hard
drives.

22© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Recovering your computer
Recovery of a system disk is an important operation. Before you start, we recommend that you readthe detailed descriptions in the following Help topics:lTrying to determine the crash causelPreparing for recoverylRecovering your system to the same disk

Let’s consider two different cases:
1. Windows works incorrectly, but you can start Acronis True Image OEM.
2. Windows cannot start (for example, you turn on your computer and see something unusual on
your screen).
Case 1. How to recover computer if Windows works incorrectly?

1. Start Acronis True Image OEM.
2. On the sidebar, click Backup.
3. From the backup list, select the backup that contains your system disk. The backup can belocated on local, network storage, or Acronis Cloud.
4. On the right panel, click Recovery.
5. Depending on the backup type, click Recover PC or Recover disks.
6. In the opened window, select the backup version (the data state from a specific date and time).
7. Select the system partition and the System Reserved partition (if any) to be recovered.
8. Click Recover now.
Note
To complete the operation, Acronis True Image OEM must restart your system.

23© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Case 2. How to recover computer if Windows cannot start?

1. Connect Acronis bootable media to your computer, and then run the special standalone versionof Acronis True Image OEM.
Refer to Step 2 Creating Acronis bootable media and Arranging boot order in BIOS for details.
2. On the Welcome screen, select My disks below Recover.
3. Select the system disk backup to be used for recovery. Right-click the backup and choose
Recover.
When the backup is not displayed, click Browse and manually specify the path to the backup.
4. At the Recovery method step, select Recover whole disks and partitions.
5. Select the system partition (usually C) on the What to recover screen. Note that you may
distinguish the system partition by the Pri, Act flags. Select the System Reserved partition (if any),
as well.
6. You may leave all settings of the partitions without changes and click Finish.
7. Check the summary of operations, and then click Proceed.
8. When the operation finishes, exit the standalone version of Acronis True Image OEM, remove thebootable media (if any), and boot from the recovered system partition. After making sure thatyou have recovered Windows to the state you need, restore the original boot order.

24© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Basic concepts
This section provides general information about basic concepts which could be useful forunderstanding how the program works.
Backup and recovery
Backup refers to the making copies of data so that these additional copies may be used to recover
the original after a data loss event.
Backups are useful primarily for two purposes:l

To recover an operating system when it is corrupted or cannot start (called disaster recovery).
Refer to Protecting your system for more details about protecting your computer from a disaster.

l

To recover specific files and folders after they have been accidentally deleted or corrupted.

Acronis True Image OEM does both by creating disk (or partition) images and file-level backups
respectively.
Recovery methods:lFull recovery can be performed to the original location or to a new one.
When the original location is selected, the data in the location is completely overwritten with thedata from the backup. In case of a new location, the data is just copied to the new location fromthe backup.

lIncremental recovery is performed only to the original location and only from a cloud backup.
Before the recovery starts, the files in the original location are compared with the files in the
backup by file attributes, such as file size and date of last modification. Those files that do notmatch are marked for recovery, the remaining files will be skipped during recovery. In that way,
as opposed to the full recovery, Acronis True Image OEM recovers only changed files. Thismethod significantly reduces the recovery time and saves Internet traffic while recovering fromAcronis Cloud.

Backup versions
Backup versions are the file or files created during each backup operation. The number of versions
created is equal to the number of times the backup is executed. So, a version represents a point intime to which the system or data can be restored.
Backup versions represent full, incremental and differential backups - see Full, incremental anddifferential backups.
The backup versions are similar to file versions. The file versions concept is familiar to those who
use a Windows feature called "Previous versions of files". This feature allows you to restore a file as
it existed on a particular date and time. A backup version allows you to recover your data in a similar
way.
Disk cloning25© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

This operation copies the entire contents of one disk drive to another disk drive. This may benecessary, for example, when you want to clone your operating system, applications, and data to a
new larger capacity disk. You can do it two ways:l

Use the Clone disk utility.

lBack up your old disk drive, and then recover it to the new one.

Backup file format
Acronis True Image OEM usually saves backup data in the proprietary tib format using compression.
The data from .tib file backups can be recovered only through Acronis True Image OEM, in Windows
or in the recovery environment.
Acronis Nonstop Backup uses a special hidden storage for data and metadata. The backed up datais compressed and split into files of about 1 GB. These files also have a proprietary format and thedata they contain can be recovered only with the help of Acronis True Image OEM.
Backup validation
The backup validation feature allows you to confirm that your data can be recovered. The program
adds checksum values to the data blocks being backed up. During backup validation, Acronis True
Image OEM opens the backup file, recalculates the checksum values and compares those values
with the stored ones. If all compared values match, the backup file is not corrupted.
Scheduling
For your backups to be really helpful, they must be as up to date as possible. Schedule your backups
to run automatically and on a regular basis.
Deleting backups
When you want to delete backups and backup versions you no longer need, do it by using the tools
provided by Acronis True Image OEM. Refer to Deleting backups and backup versions for details.
Acronis True Image OEM stores information on the backups in a metadata information database.
Therefore, deleting unneeded backup files in File Explorer will not delete information about thesebackups from the database. This will result in errors when the program tries to perform operations
on the backups that no longer exist.

The difference between file backups and disk/partition
imagesWhen you back up files and folders, only the files and folder tree are compressed and stored.
Disk/partition backups are different from file and folder backups. Acronis True Image OEM stores anexact snapshot of the disk or partition. This procedure is called "creating a disk image" or "creating adisk backup" and the resulting backup is often called "a disk/partition image" or "a disk/partition
backup".
What does a disk/partition backup contain?

26© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

A disk/partition backup contains all the data stored on the disk or partition:
1. Zero track of the hard disk with the master boot record (MBR) (applicable to MBR disk backups
only).
2. One or more partitions, including:a. Boot code.
b. File system meta data, including service files, file allocation table (FAT), and partition bootrecord.
c. File system data, including operating system (system files, registry, drivers), user data andsoftware applications.
3. System Reserved partition, if any.
4. EFI system partition, if any (applicable to GPT disk backups only).
What is excluded from disk backups?
To reduce image size and speed up image creation, by default Acronis True Image OEM only stores
the hard disk sectors that contain data.
Acronis True Image OEM excludes the following files from a disk backup:lpagefile.syslhiberfil.sys (a file that keeps RAM contents when the computer goes into hibernation)

You can change this default method by turning on the sector-by-sector mode. In this case, Acronis
True Image OEM copies all hard disk sectors, and not only those that contain data.
Additionally, when you back up your system partition or disk to Acronis Cloud, Acronis True Image
OEM excludes the following data:l

The Temp folders, usually located in:o

C:\Windows\Temp\o

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Templ

The System Volume Information folder (usually located in C:\System Volume Information\)l

The Recycle BinlWeb browser temporary data:oTemporary Internet filesoCookiesoHistory

o

Cache

l

.tib and .tibx filesl.tmp filesl.~ filesFull, incremental and differential backups
Acronis True Image OEM offers three backup methods: full, incremental, and differential.

27© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Full method
The result of a full method backup operation (also known as full backup version) contains all of thedata at the moment of the backup creation.
Example: Every day, you write one page of your document and back it up using the full method.
Acronis True Image OEM saves the entire document every time you run backup.
1.tibx, 2.tibx, 3.tibx, 4.tibx—files of full backup versions.

Additional information
A full backup version forms a base for further incremental or differential backups. It can also be
used as a standalone backup. A standalone full backup might be an optimal solution if you often rollback the system to its initial state or if you do not like to manage multiple backup versions.
Recovery: In the example above, to recover the entire work from the 4.tibx file, you need to have
only one backup version—4.tib.

Incremental method
The result of an incremental method backup operation (also known as incremental backup version)contains only those files which have been changed since the LAST BACKUP.
Example: Every day, you write one page of your document and back it up using the incremental
method. Acronis True Image OEM saves the new page every time you run backup.
Note: The first backup version you create always uses full method.
l1.tibx—file of full backup version.

l

2.tibx, 3.tibx, 4.tibx—files of incremental backup versions.

28© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Additional information
Incremental method is the most useful when you need frequent backup versions and the ability toroll back to a specific point in time. As a rule, incremental backup versions are considerably smaller
than full or differential versions. On the other hand, incremental versions require more work for the
program to provide recovery.
Recovery: In the example above, to recover the entire work from the 4.tibx file, you need to have all
the backup versions—1.tibx, 2.tibx, 3.tibx, and 4.tibx. Therefore, if you lose an incremental backup
version or it becomes corrupted, all later incremental versions are unusable.

Differential method
The result of a differential method backup operation (also known as differential backup version)contains only those files which have been changed since the LAST FULL BACKUP.
Example: Every day, you write one page of your document and back it up using the differential
method. Acronis True Image OEM saves the entire document except the first page stored in the fullbackup version.
Note: The first backup version you create always uses full method.
l1.tibx—file of full backup version.

l

2.tibx, 3.tibx, 4.tibx—files of differential backup versions.

29© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Additional information
Differential method is an intermediate between the first two approaches. It takes less time andspace than a full one, but more than an incremental one. To recover data from a differential backup
version, Acronis True Image OEM needs only the differential version and the last full version.
Therefore, recovery from a differential version is simpler and more reliable than recovery from anincremental one.
Recovery: In the example above, to recover the entire work from the 4.tibx file, you need to have
two backup versions—1.tibx and 4.tibx.
To choose a desired backup method, you usually need to configure a custom backup scheme. For
more information see Custom schemes.
Note
An incremental or differential backup created after a disk is defragmented might be considerablylarger than usual. This is because the defragmentation program changes file locations on the disk
and the backups reflect these changes. Therefore, it is recommended that you re-create a fullbackup after disk defragmentation.

Changed Block Tracker (CBT)The CBT technology accelerates the backup process when creating local incremental or differential
disk-level backup versions. Changes to the disk content are continuously tracked at the block level.
When a backup starts, the changes can be immediately saved to the backup.

30© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Deciding where to store your backups
Acronis True Image OEM supports quite a few of storage devices. For more information, refer to"Supported storage media" (p. 10).
The table below shows possible backup destinations for your data.
HDD*

SSD*

USB

AcronisFile

Network

flash

Cloud

server,

share

drive

SMB

FTP

DVD

Memorycard

NAS or
NDAS

MBR

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

partitions or
entire disks(HDD, SSD)
GPT/dynami
c volumes ordisks
Files andfolders*Internal or external.
Though backing up to your local hard drive is the simplest option, we recommend that you store
your backups off-site because it enhances the security of your data.
Recommended storage media:
1. Acronis Cloud
2. External drive
If you plan to use an external USB hard drive with your desktop PC, we recommend that youconnect the drive to a rear connector by using a short cable.
3. Home file server, NAS, or NDASCheck whether Acronis True Image OEM detects the selected backup storage, both in Windows
and when booted from the bootable media.
To gain access to an NDAS-enabled storage device, in many cases you will need to specify the
NDAS device ID (20 characters) and the write key (five characters). The write key allows you to
use an NDAS-enabled device in write mode (for example, for saving your backups). Usually thedevice ID and write key are printed on a sticker attached to the bottom of the NDAS device or on
the inside of its enclosure. If there is no sticker, you need to contact your NDAS device vendor to
obtain that information.
4. Network share
See also: Authentication settings.See also: Authentication settings.

31© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

5. FTP server
See also: FTP connection.
6. Optical discs (CD, DVD, BD)
Blank optical discs such as DVD-R, DVD+R are very cheap, so they will be the lowest cost solution
for backing up your data, though the slowest one.
Due to the necessity of swapping discs, we strongly recommend to avoid backing up to DVDs if
the number of discs is more than three. When there is no alternative to backing up to DVDs, werecommend to copy all DVDs to a folder on a hard disk, and then to recover from that folder.

Preparing a new disk for backup
A new internal or external hard drive may not be recognized by Acronis True Image OEM. If this is
the case, use the operating system tools to change the disk status to Online and then to initialize
the disk.
To change a disk status to Online
1. Open Disk Management. To do this, go to Control Panel -> System and Security ->Administrative Tool, start Computer Management, and then click Disk Management.
2. Find the disk marked as Offline. Right-click the disk and then click Online.
3. The disk status will be changed to Online. After that, you will be able to initialize the disk.
To initialize a disk
1. Open Disk Management. To do this, go to Control Panel -> System and Security ->Administrative Tool, start Computer Management, and then click Disk Management.
2. Find the disk marked as Not Initialized. Right-click the disk and then click Initialize Disk.
3. Select a partition table for the disk - MBR or GPT, and then click OK.
4. [optional step] To create a volume on the disk, right-click the disk, click New Simple Volume,and then follow the wizard's steps to configure the new volume. To create one more volume,
repeat this operation.

FTP connection
Acronis True Image OEM allows you to store your backups on FTP servers.
To create a new FTP connection, when selecting a backup storage click FTP connection, and in theopened window provide:lPath to the FTP server, for example: my.server.com

l

Port

l

User namelPassword

To check your settings, click the Test connection button. The computer will try to connect to thespecified FTP server. If the test connection has been established, click the Connect button to add
the FTP connection.

32© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

The created FTP connection will appear in the folder tree. Select the connection and browse for the
backup storage that you want to use.
Note
The mere opening of an FTP server's root folder does not bring you to your home directory.
Note
For data to be recovered directly from an FTP server, the backup must consist of files no greaterthan 2GB each.
Note
Because of this, Acronis True Image OEM splits a backup into files with a size of 2GB when backing
up directly to an FTP server. If you back up to a hard disk with the aim of transferring the backup to
an FTP later, you may split the backup into files of 2GB each by setting the desired file size in the
backup options.
Note
An FTP server must allow passive mode file transfers.
Note
The firewall settings of the source computer should have Ports 20 and 21 opened for the TPC andUDP protocols to function. The Routing and Remote Access Windows service should be disabled.

Authentication settings
If you are connecting to a networked computer, in most cases you will need to provide thenecessary credentials for accessing the network share. For example, this is possible when you selecta backup storage. The Authentication Settings window appears automatically when you select a
networked computer name.
If necessary, specify the user name and password, and then click Test connection. When the test is
successfully passed, click Connect.

Troubleshooting
When you create a network share that you plan to use as a backup storage, ensure that at least oneof the following conditions is met:lWindows account has a password on the computer where the shared folder is located.

lPassword-protected sharing is turned off in Windows.
For example, in Windows 7, you can find this setting at Control Panel —> Network andInternet —> Network and Sharing Center —> Advanced sharing settings —> Turn off
password protected sharing.

Otherwise, you will not be able to connect to the shared folder.

33© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Acronis Nonstop Backup
Acronis Nonstop Backup provides easy protection of your disks and files. It allows you to recoverentire disks, individual files and their different versions.
The main purpose of Acronis Nonstop Backup is continuous protection of your data (files, folders,contacts, etc.), though you can use it to protect partitions as well. If you choose to protect an entire
partition, you will be able to recover the partition as a whole using the image recovery procedure.
We do not recommend using nonstop backup as a primary way to protect your system. For thesafety of your system, use any other schedule. Refer to Examples of custom schemes for examples
and details.

Nonstop Backup limitationsl

You can create only one nonstop backup.

lAcronis Cloud cannot be used as a destination for a disk-level nonstop backup.

lWindows libraries (Documents, Music, etc.) can be protected with a disk-level nonstop backup
only.

l

You cannot protect data stored on external hard drives.

l

Nonstop Backup and Try&Decide cannot work simultaneously.

How it works
Once you start Acronis Nonstop Backup, the program will perform an initial full backup of the data
selected for protection. Acronis Nonstop Backup will then continually monitor the protected files(including open ones). Once a modification is detected, the changed data is backed up. The shortest
interval between the incremental backup operations is five minutes. This allows you to recover yoursystem to an exact point in time.
Acronis Nonstop Backup checks file changes on the disk, not in the memory. If, for instance, you areworking in Word and do not save for a long time, your current changes in the Word document will
not be backed up.
You may think that at these backup rates the storage will fill in no time. Do not worry as Acronis
True Image OEM will back up only so called "deltas". This means that only differences between old
and new versions will be backed up and not whole changed files. For example, if you use Microsoft
Outlook or Windows Mail, your pst file may be very large. Furthermore, it changes with each
received or sent E-mail message. Backing up the entire pst file after each change would be an
unacceptable waste of your storage space, so Acronis True Image OEM backs up only its changed
parts in addition to the initially backed up file.

Retention rules
Local backups

34© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Acronis Nonstop Backup keeps all backups for the last 24 hours. The older backups will beconsolidated in such a way that Nonstop Backup will keep daily backups for the last 30 days andweekly backups until all Nonstop Backup data destination space is used.
The consolidation will be performed every day between midnight and 01:00 AM. The first
consolidation will take place after the Nonstop Backup has been working for at least 24 hours. For
example, you have turned on the Nonstop Backup at 10:00 AM on July 12. In this case the first
consolidation will be performed between 00:00 and 01:00 AM on July 14. Then the program willconsolidate the data every day at the same time. If your computer is turned off between 00:00 and
01:00 AM, the consolidation will start when you turn the computer on. If you turn off Nonstop
Backup for some time, the consolidation will start after you turn it on again.
Cloud backups
Acronis True Image OEM keeps only the following backup versions:l

All versions for the last hourl

The first versions of every hour for the last 24 hoursl

The first version of every day for the last weekl

The first version of every week for the last monthl

The first version of every month

All other versions are automatically deleted. The retention rules are pre-set and cannot be changed.

Acronis Nonstop Backup data storage
Acronis Nonstop Backup data storage can be created on local hard disk drives (both internal andexternal) or Acronis Cloud.
In many cases an external hard disk will be the best choice for Nonstop Backup data storage. You
can use an external disk with any of the following interfaces: USB (including USB 3.0), eSATA,
FireWire, and SCSI.
You can also use an NAS as the storage, but with one limitation - it must be accessible with the SMB
protocol. It does not matter whether an NAS share you want to use for the storage is mapped as alocal disk or not. If the share requires login, you will need to provide the correct user name andpassword. For more information see Authentication settings. Acronis True Image OEM remembers
the credentials and the subsequent connections to the share do not require login.
When an external hard disk or NAS is unavailable, the Nonstop Backup destination can be aninternal disk, including a dynamic one. Keep in mind that you cannot use a partition to be protected
as a Nonstop Backup storage. If your computer has a single hard disk drive with a single partition,
but you want to use Acronis Nonstop Backup anyway, you can create Acronis Secure Zone and use it
as the Nonstop Backup data storage.
Before creating Acronis Nonstop Backup data storage, Acronis True Image OEM checks whether theselected destination has enough free space. It multiplies the volume of data to be protected by 1.2
and compares the calculated value with the available space. If the free space on the destination

35© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

satisfies this minimum storage size criterion, the destination can be used for storing Nonstop
Backup data.

Nonstop Backup - Frequently asked questions
Why does Acronis Nonstop Backup pause on its own? - This is the designed behavior of Acronis
Nonstop Backup. When the system load rises to a critical level, Acronis Nonstop Backup receives theoverload alarm from Windows and pauses itself. This is done to aid Windows relieve the loadcaused by other applications. The overload can be caused by running resource-intensive
applications (for example, performing a deep system scan with your antivirus software).
In such a case Nonstop Backup automatically pauses and you cannot restart it. After pausing,Acronis Nonstop Backup gives the system one hour to relieve the load and then attempts to restart.
The automatic restart count for Acronis Nonstop Backup is 6. This means that after the first
automatic restart Acronis Nonstop Backup will attempt to restart five more times with intervals ofexactly one hour between attempts.
After the sixth unsuccessful attempt, Acronis Nonstop Backup will wait for the next calendar day. On
the next day the automatic restart count will automatically reset. When not interfered with, Acronis
Nonstop Backup performs six restart attempts per day.
The restart attempt count can be reset by doing any of the following:l

Restarting Acronis Nonstop Backup service;l

Rebooting the computer.

Restarting Acronis Nonstop Backup service will only reset the restart count to 0. If the system is stilloverloaded, Acronis Nonstop Backup will pause again. For information on restarting the Acronis
Nonstop Backup service, refer to https://kb.acronis.com/content/14708.
Rebooting the computer will reset the load and the restart count. If the system overloads again,
Acronis Nonstop Backup will pause.
Why does Acronis Nonstop Backup sometimes cause a high CPU load? - This is the expectedbehavior of Acronis Nonstop Backup. This may happen on restart of a paused Acronis Nonstop
Backup if a considerable amount of protected data has been modified during the pause.
For example, if you manually pause the Acronis Nonstop Backup that you use for protecting yoursystem partition and then install a new application. When you restart Acronis Nonstop Backup, it
loads the CPU for some time. However, the process (afcdpsrv.exe) then goes back to normal.
This happens because Acronis Nonstop Backup needs to check the backed up data against the datathat have been modified during the pause to ensure protection continuity. If there was aconsiderable amount of data modified, the process may load CPU for some time. After the check isdone and all the modified data is backed up, Acronis Nonstop Backup goes back to normal.
Can I have Acronis Nonstop Backup storage on an FAT32 partition of a local hard disk? - Yes,
FAT32 and NTFS partitions can be used as the storage.

36© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Can I set up Acronis Nonstop Backup storage on a network share or NAS? - Yes, Acronis
Nonstop Backup supports network shares, mapped drives, NAS and other network attached devices
with one limitation - they must use the SMB protocol.

Backup file naming
A TIB backup file name has the following attributes:l

Backup namel

Backup method (full, inc, diff: full, incremental, differential)lNumber of backup chain1 (in the form of b#)l

Number of backup version2 (in the form of s#)lNumber of volume (in the form of v#)
For example this attribute changes when you split a backup into several files. Refer to Backup
splitting for details.

Thus a backup name may look the following way:
1. my_documents_full_b1_s1_v1.tib
2. my_documents_full_b2_s1_v1.tib
3. my_documents_inc_b2_s2_v1.tib
4. my_documents_inc_b2_s3_v1.tib
If you are creating a new backup, and there is already a file with the same name, the program does
not delete the old file, but adds to the new file the "-number" suffix, for example, my_documents_inc_b2_s2_v1-2.tib.

Integration with Windows
During installation Acronis True Image OEM provides closer integration with Windows. Suchmerging allows you to get the most out of your computer.
Acronis True Image OEM integrates the following components:l

Acronis items on the Windows Start menulAcronis True Image OEM button on the taskbarlShortcut menu commands

1Sequence of minimum two backup versions that consist of the first full backup version and the subsequent one ormore incremental or differential backup versions. Backup version chain continues till the next full backup version (ifany).
2The result of a single backup operation. Physically, it is a file or a set of files that contains a copy of the backed up
data as of a specific date and time. Backup version of files created by Acronis True Image OEM have a .tibx extension.
The TIBX files resulting from consolidation of backup versions are also called backup versions.

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Windows Start menu
The Start menu displays Acronis commands, tools and utilities. They give you access to Acronis True
Image OEM functionality, without having to start the application.

Acronis True Image OEM button on the taskbar
The Acronis True Image OEM button on the Windows taskbar shows the progress and result of
Acronis True Image OEM operations.

Tray Notification Center
When Acronis True Image OEM is open, you can see the status of any operation in it. However, sincesome operations can take quite a while, such as a backup, there is no need to keep Acronis True
Image OEM to learn its result.
The Tray Notification Center contains latest notifications in one place, lets you see important
operation statuses without opening Acronis True Image OEM at the moment when you need them.
The following notifications are shown in Acronis Tray Notification Center: information on the resultsof backup operations, and other important notifications from Acronis True Image OEM. The Tray
Notification Center is minimized and hidden under Acronis True Image OEM in the tray.

Shortcut menu commands
To access shortcut menu commands, open File Explorer, right-click selected items, point to Acronis
True Image OEM, and then select a command.
l

To create a new file-level backup, select New file backup.

l

To create a new disk-level backup, select New disk backup.

l

To mount a disk-level backup (.tib file), select Mount.

lTo validate a backup (.tib file), select Validate.

File-level recovery in File Explorer
1. In File Explorer, double-click the backup file (.tib file) that contains the data to recover.
2. Copy or drag the files and folders to any location on your computer, as if they were stored on an
ordinary disk.

Wizards
When you use the available Acronis True Image OEM tools and utilities, the program will in manycases employ wizards to guide you through the operations.
For example, see the screenshot below.

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A wizard window usually consists of the following areas:
1. This is the list of steps to complete the operation. A green checkmark appears next to a complete
step. The green arrow indicates the current step. When complete all the steps, the program
displays the Summary screen in the Finish step. Check the summary and click Proceed to start
the operation.
2. This toolbar contains buttons to manage objects you select in area 3.
For example:l

Details - displays the window that provides detailed information about the selectedbackup.

l

Properties - displays the selected item properties window.

lCreate new partition - displays the window where you can configure a new partition
settings.

lColumns - allows you to choose which table columns to display and in which order.

3. This is the main area where you select items and change settings.
4. This area displays additional information about the item you select in area 3.

FAQ about backup, recovery and cloningl

I have a 150GB system partition, but the occupied space on that partition is only 80GB.
What will Acronis True Image OEM include in a backup? - By default, Acronis True Image

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OEM copies only the hard disk sectors that contain data, so it will include only 80GB in a backup.
You can also choose the sector-by-sector mode. Note that such a backup mode is required only in
special cases. For more information, see Image creation mode. While creating a sector-by-sector
backup, the program copies both used and unused hard disk sectors and the backup file willusually be significantly larger.
lWill my system disk backup include drivers, documents, pictures, etc.? - Yes, such a backup
will contain the drivers, as well as the contents of the My documents folder and its subfolders, if
you kept the default location of the My documents folder. If you have just a single hard disk inyour PC, such a backup will contain all of the operating system, applications and data.

l

I have an old hard disk drive which is almost full in my notebook. I purchased a new
bigger HDD. How can I transfer Windows, programs and data to the new disk? - You caneither clone the old hard disk on the new one or back up the old hard disk and then recover the
backup to a new one. The optimum method usually depends on your old hard disk partitions
layout.

l

I want to migrate my old system hard disk to an SSD. Can this be done with Acronis True
Image OEM? - Yes, Acronis True Image OEM provides such a function. For procedure details, see
Migrating your system from an HDD to an SSDlWhat is the best way to migrate the system to a new disk: cloning or backup andrecovery? - The backup and recovery method provides more flexibility. In any case, we strongly
recommend to make a backup of your old hard disk even if you decide to use cloning. It could be
your data saver if something goes wrong with your original hard disk during cloning. For example,
there were cases when users chose the wrong disk as the target and thus wiped their systemdisk. In addition, you can make more than one backup to create redundancy and increase
security.

lWhat should I back up: a partition or the whole disk? - In most cases, it is better to back up
the whole disk. However, there may be some cases when a partition backup is advisable. For
example, your notebook has a single hard disk with two partitions: system (disk letter C) and thedata (disk letter D). The system partition stores your working documents in the My documents
folder with subfolders. The data partition stores your videos, pictures, and music files. Such files
are already compressed and backing them up using Acronis True Image OEM would not give you
significant reduction of the backup file size. However, we recommend creating at least one wholedisk backup if your backup storage has enough space.

l

Could you tell me how to clone: in Windows or after booting from the Acronis bootable
media? Even when you start cloning in Windows, the computer will reboot into the Linux
environment the same as when booting from the Acronis bootable media. Because of this, it isbetter to clone under Acronis bootable media. For example, there may be a case when your harddisk drives are detected in Windows and not detected in Linux. If this is the case, the cloning
operation will fail after reboot. When booting from the bootable media, you can make sure that
Acronis True Image OEM detects both the source and target disks before starting the cloning
operation.

l

Can I clone or back up and recover a dual boot machine? Yes, this is possible when both
operating systems are Windows. If your systems are installed in separate partitions of the same40

© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

physical hard disk drive, cloning or recovery usually proceeds without any problems. If thesystems are on different physical hard disk drives, there may be some problems with bootability
after recovery.
l

Does Acronis True Image OEM support RAID? - Acronis True Image OEM supports hardware
RAID arrays of all popular types. Support of software RAID configurations on dynamic disks is also
provided. Acronis bootable media supports most of the popular hardware RAID controllers. If thestandard Acronis bootable media does not "see" the RAID as a single volume, the media does nothave the appropriate drivers. In this case you can try to create WinPE-based media. This media
may provide the necessary drivers.

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Backing up data
Backing up disks and partitions
As opposed to file backups, disk and partition backups contain all the data stored on the disk or
partition. This backup type is usually used to create an exact copy of a system partition of the wholesystem disk. Such backup allows you to recover your computer when Windows works incorrectly orcannot start.
To back up partitions or disks
1. Start Acronis True Image OEM.
2. On the sidebar, click Backup.
3. Click Add backup.
4. [Optional] To rename the backup, click the arrow next to the backup name, click Rename, andthen enter a new name.
5. Click the Backup source area, and then select Disks and partitions.
6. In the opened window, select the check boxes next to the partitions and disks that you want toback up, and then click OK.
To view hidden partitions, click Full partition list.
Note
To back up dynamic disks you can use only the partition mode.

7. Click the Backup destination area, and then select a destination for backup:

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lAcronis Cloud—Sign in to your account, and then click OK.
If you do not have an Acronis account, click Create account, type your email address,
password, and then click the Create account button. Refer to Acronis account for details.

lYour external drive—When an external drive is plugged into your computer, you can select itfrom the list.

l

NAS—Select an NAS from the list of found NAS devices. If you have only one NAS, Acronis
True Image OEM will suggest using it as a backup destination by default.

lBrowse—Select a destination from the folder tree.

Note
If possible, avoid storing your system partition backups on dynamic disks, because the system
partition is recovered in the Linux environment. Linux and Windows work with dynamic disks
differently. This may result in problems during recovery.
8. [optional step] Click Options to set the options for the backup. For more information see Backup
options.
9. [optional step] Click the Add a comment icon, and then type a comment to the backup version.
Backup comments will help you to find the necessary version later, when recovering your data.
10. Perform one of the following:l

To run the backup immediately, click Back up now.

l

To run the backup later or on a schedule, click the arrow to the right of the Back up now
button, and then click Later.

Note
When you back up your data to Acronis Cloud, the first backup may take a considerable amount oftime to complete. Further backup processes will likely be much faster, because only changes to files
will be transferred over the Internet.
Note
Once an online backup is started, you are free to close Acronis True Image OEM. The backup
process will continue in background mode. If you suspend the backup, turn off your computer, ordisconnect it from the Internet, the backup will resume when you click Back up now or when theInternet connection is restored. A backup interruption does not cause your data to be uploaded
twice.

Backing up files and folders
To protect files such as documents, photos, music files, video files, there is no need to back up theentire partition containing the files. You can back up specific files and folders.
To back up files and folders
1. Start Acronis True Image OEM.
2. On the sidebar, click Backup.

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3. Click Add backup.
4. [Optional] To rename the backup, click the arrow next to the backup name, click Rename, andthen enter a new name.
5. Click the Backup source area, and then select Files and folders.
6. In the opened window, select the check boxes next to the files and folders that you want to backup, and then click OK.

7. Click the Backup destination area, and then select a destination for backup:lAcronis Cloud—Sign in to your account, and then click OK.
If you do not have an Acronis account, click Create account, type your email address,
password, and then click the Create account button. Refer to Acronis account for details.

lYour external drive—When an external drive is plugged into your computer, you can select itfrom the list.

l

NAS—Select an NAS from the list of found NAS devices. If you have only one NAS, Acronis
True Image OEM will suggest using it as a backup destination by default.

lBrowse—Select a destination from the folder tree.

8. [optional step] Click Options to set the options for the backup. For more information see Backup
options.
9. [optional step] Click the Add a comment icon, and then type a comment to the backup version.
Backup comments will help you to find the necessary version later, when recovering your data.
10. Perform one of the following:l

To run the backup immediately, click Back up now.

l

To run the backup later or on a schedule, click the down arrow to the right of the Back up
now button, and then click Later.

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Note
When you back up your data to Acronis Cloud, the first backup may take a considerable amount oftime to complete. Further backup processes will likely be much faster, because only changes to files
will be transferred over the Internet.
Additionally, watch the English-language video instructions at https://goo.gl/i4J1AN.

Backup options
When you create a backup, you can change additional options and fine-tune the backup process. To
open the options window, select a source and destination for a backup, and then click Options.
Note that options of each backup type (disk-level backup, file-level backup, online backup, nonstop
backup) are fully independent and you should configure them separately.
After you have installed the application, all options are set to the initial values. You can change themfor your current backup operation only or for all backups that will be created in future. Select the
Save as default check box to apply the modified settings to all further backup operations bydefault.

If you want to reset all the modified options to the values that were set after the product installation
initially, click the Reset to initial settings button. Note that this will reset the settings for thecurrent backup only. To reset the settings for all further backups, click Reset to initial settings,
select the Save the settings as default check box, and then click OK.
Additionally, watch the English-language video instructions at https://goo.gl/bKZyaG.

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Scheduling
Location: Options > Schedule
The Schedule tab allows you to specify the backup and validation schedule settings.

You can specify a schedule for backups created or validated regularly:lDaily—The operation will be executed once a day or more frequently.

l

Weekly—The operation will be executed once a week or several times a week on the selected
days.

l

Monthly—The operation will be executed once a month or several times a month on theselected dates.

lUpon event—The operation will be executed upon an event.

l

Nonstop—The operation will run every five minutes.

l

Do not schedule—The scheduler will be turned off for the current operation. In this case thebackup or validation will run only when you click Back up now or Validate respectively in themain window.

Advanced settings
Clicking Advanced settings allows you to specify the following additional settings for backup andvalidation:l

Back up only when the computer is locked or screensaver is running—Select this check box
to postpone a scheduled operation until the next time the computer is not in use (a screen saver

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is displayed or computer is locked). For the validation schedule, the check box changes to Run
the validation only when the computer is idle.
lWake up the sleeping/hibernating computer—Select this check box to wake up the
sleeping/hibernating computer to perform the scheduled operation.

lPrevent the computer from going to sleep/hibernate—Select this check box to eliminate asituation when a time-consuming backup is interrupted if the computer goes into sleep orhibernation mode.

lRun missed operations at the system startup with delay (in minutes)—Select this check box
to force the missed operation to run at the next system startup, if the computer was switched off
at the scheduled time, and the operation was not performed.
Additionally, you can set a time delay to start backup after the system startup. For example, tostart backup 20 minutes after system startup, enter 20 in the appropriate box.

l

Run missed operations when an external device is connected [optional, if you schedule abackup to a USB flash drive, or validation of a backup that is located on a USB flash drive]—Selectthis check box to run a missed operation when the USB flash drive is attached if it was
disconnected at the scheduled time.

Daily backup parameters
You can set up the following parameters for backups created or validated daily:lEvery—Select the daily periodicity from the dropdown list (for example, every 2 hours).

lOnce a day—The operation starts once a day at the specified time.

l

Twice a day—The operation starts twice a day. Select the time for each of the two operations.

Description of the Advanced settings see in Scheduling.

Weekly backup parameters
You can set up the following parameters for backups created or validated weekly:lDays of the week—Select the days on which to run the operation .

l

At—Select the operation start time.

Description of the Advanced settings see in Scheduling.

Monthly backup parameters
You can set up the following parameters for backups created or validated monthly:lEvery—Select a numeral and a day of the week from the dropdown lists. For example, selectEvery first Monday to run the operation on the first Monday of every month.

l

On selected days of the month—Select the date(s) for backup. For example, you may want to
run the operation on the 10th and the last day of the month.

l

At—Select the operation start time.

Description of the Advanced settings see in Scheduling.

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Upon event execution parameters
You can set up the following parameters for backups created or validated upon some event:l

Once a day only—Select the check box if you want to run the operation only at the firstoccurrence of the event on the current day.

lSpecify the event triggering the backup creation or validation:oWhen an external device is connected—The operation starts each time the same external
device (USB flash drive or an external HDD) you previously used as a backup destination isplugged into your computer. Note that Windows should recognize this device as external.

oUser logon—The operation starts each time the current user logs on to the OS.

oUser logoff—The operation starts each time the current user logs off the OS.

o

System shutdown or restart—The operation starts at every computer shutdown or reboot.

oSystem startup with delay (in minutes)—The operation starts at every OS startup with thedelay time you specified.

Description of the Advanced settings see in Scheduling.

Backup schemes
Location: Options > Backup scheme
Backup schemes along with the scheduler help you set up your backup strategy. The schemes allow
you to optimize backup storage space usage, improve data storage reliability, and automaticallydelete the obsolete backup versions.
Note
For online backups, the backup scheme is preset and cannot be changed. After the initial fullbackup, only incremental versions are created.
The backup scheme defines the following parameters:lBackup methods that will be used to create backup versions (full, differential or incremental)lSequence of the backup versions created using different methodslVersion cleanup rules

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Acronis True Image OEM allows you to choose from the following backup schemes:lSingle version scheme—Select this scheme if you want to use the smallest backup storage.

lVersion chain scheme—This may be the optimal scheme in many cases.

lIncremental scheme—Select to create a full version after every five incremental versions. This is
the default scheme.

lDifferential scheme—Select to create only differential backups after an initial full backup.

lCustom scheme—Select to set up a backup scheme manually.

You can easily change the backup scheme for a pre-existing backup. This will not affect the integrityof the backup chains, so you will be able to recover your data from any previous backup version.
Note
You cannot change the backup scheme when backing up to optical media such as a DVD/BD. In thiscase, Acronis True Image OEM by default uses a custom scheme with only full backups. This isbecause the program cannot consolidate backups stored on optical media.

Single version scheme
This backup scheme is the same for both disk backup and file backup types (except scheduler
settings).
The program creates a full backup version and overwrites it every time according to the specified
schedule or when you run the backup manually. In this process, the old version is deleted only after
a new version is created.

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Note
The very first file will remain for auxiliary purposes, without your data in it. Do not delete it!
Backup scheduler setting for disk backup: monthly.
Backup scheduler setting for file backup: daily.
Result: you have a single up-to-date full backup version.
Required storage space: minimal.

Version chain scheme
Note
Certain features and functionalities may be unavailable in the edition that you use.
This backup scheme differs for disk backup and file backup types.
Disk backup version chain
At first the program creates the 1st full backup version. The version will be kept until you delete it
manually. After that, according to the specified schedule (or when you run backup manually) the
program creates: 1 full and 5 differential backup versions, then again 1 full and 5 differential backup
versions and so on. The versions will be stored for 6 months. After the period the program analyzes
if the oldest backup versions (except the 1st full version) may be deleted. It depends on theminimum number of versions (eight) and version chains consistency. The program deletes theoldest versions one by one after creating new versions with the same backup method (for example,
the oldest differential version will be deleted after creation of the newest differential version). Firstof all the oldest differential versions will be deleted, then - the oldest full version.
Backup scheduler setting: monthly.
Result: you have monthly backup versions for the last 6 months plus the initial full backup version
that may be kept for a longer period.
Required storage space: depends on the number of versions and their sizes.
File backup version chain
According to the specified schedule (or when you run backup manually) the program creates: 1 fulland 6 incremental backup versions, then again 1 full and 6 incremental versions and so on. The
versions will be stored for 1 month. After the period the program analyzes if the oldest backup
versions may be deleted. It depends on the version chain consistency. To keep the consistency, theprogram deletes the oldest versions by chains "1 full + 6 incremental backup versions" after creatinga new analogous version chain.
Backup scheduler setting: daily.
Result: you have backup versions for every day of the last month.
Required storage space: depends on the number of versions and their sizes.
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Custom schemes
With Acronis True Image OEM you also can create your own backup schemes. Schemes can bebased on the pre-defined backup schemes. You can make changes in a selected pre-defined scheme
to suit your needs and then save the changed scheme as a new one.
Note
You cannot overwrite existing pre-defined backup schemes.
Turn on automatic cleanupl

Old version cleanup rules—To delete obsolete backup versions automatically, you can set oneof the following cleanup rules:oDelete versions older than [n] days [available for full method only]—Select this option tolimit the age of backup versions. All versions that are older than the specified period will be
automatically deleted.

oDelete version chains older than [n] days [available for incremental and differential
methods only]—Select this option to limit the age of backup version chains. The oldest version
chain will be deleted only when the most recent backup version of this chain is older than thespecified period.

oStore no more than [n] recent versions [available for full method only]—Select this option
to limit the maximum number of backup versions. When the number of versions exceeds the
specified value, the oldest backup version will be automatically deleted.

oStore no more than [n] recent version chains [available for incremental and differential
methods only]—Select this option to limit the maximum number of backup version chains.
When the number of version chains exceeds the specified value, the oldest backup version
chain will be automatically deleted.

oKeep size of the backup no more than [defined size] [not available for local backups]—
Select this option to limit the maximum size of the backup. After creating a new backup
version, the program checks whether the total backup size exceeds the specified value. If it'strue, the oldest backup version will be deleted.

l

Do not delete the first version of the backup—Select this check box to keep the initial datastate. The program will create two initial full backup versions. The first version will be excluded
from the automatic cleanup, and will be stored until you delete it manually. If you selectincremental or differential method, the first backup chain will start from the second full backup
version. And only the third version of the backup will be incremental or differential one. Note thatwhen the check box is selected for the full method, the Store no more than [n] recent versions
check box changes to Store no more than 1+[n] recent versions.

Managing custom backup schemes
If you change anything in an existing backup scheme, you can save the changed scheme as a newone. In this case you need to specify a new name for that backup scheme.

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l

You can overwrite existing custom schemes.

l

You cannot overwrite existing pre-defined backup schemes.

l

In a scheme name, you can use any symbols allowed by OS for naming files. The maximum lengthof a backup scheme name is 255 symbols.

l

You can create not more than 16 custom backup schemes.

After creating a custom backup scheme, you can use it as any other existing backup scheme while
configuring a backup.
You can also use a custom backup scheme without saving it. In this case, it will be available only forthe backup where it was created and you will be unable to use it for other backups.
If you do not need a custom backup scheme anymore, you can delete it. To delete the scheme,
select it in the backup schemes list, click Delete, and then confirm in the Delete scheme window.
Note
The pre-defined backup schemes cannot be deleted.

Examples of custom schemes
1. Entire PC backup “Two full versions”
Case: You want to protect all data on your computer with two full versions and you want to update
the backup once a month. Let’s see how you can do it by using a custom backup scheme.
1. Start configuring an entire PC backup.
2. Make sure Entire PC is selected as the backup source.
3. Click Options, open the Schedule tab, click Monthly, and then specify a day of the month (forexample, the 20-th). This will result in a backup version being created on a monthly basis, on the
day you specify. Then, specify a start time for the backup operation.
4. Open the Backup scheme tab, and then choose Custom scheme instead of Incremental
scheme.
5. In the Backup method box, select Full from the drop-down list.
6. To limit the number of versions, click Store no more than [n] recent versions, and type or
select 2, and click OK.
In this case, the program will create a new full version every month, on the 20-th day. After
creating the third version, the oldest version will be automatically deleted.
7. Check that all settings are correct and click Back up now. If you want your first backup to be run
only at the time you specified in the Scheduler, click the down arrow to the right of the Back up
now button and select Later in the drop-down list.

2. File backup “Daily incremental version + weekly full version”
Case: You have files and/or folders you work with every day. You need to save your daily work
results and want to be able to recover data state to any date for the last three weeks. Let’s see how
you can do this using a custom backup scheme.

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1. Start configuring a file backup. Refer to Backing up files and folders for details.
2. Click Options, open the Schedule tab, click Daily, and then specify a start time for the backup
operation. For example, if you finish your everyday work at 8 PM, specify this time or a little later(8.05 PM) as the start time.
3. Open the Backup scheme tab, and then choose Custom scheme instead of Incremental
scheme.
4. In the Backup method box, select Incremental from the drop-down list.
5. Click Create a full version after every [n] incremental versions, and type or select 6.
In that case, the program will first create the initial full backup version (no matter how you set up
a backup process, the first backup version will always be the full one), and then six incremental
versions day by day. Then, it will create one full version and six incremental versions again andso on. So every new full version will be created in exactly a week's time.
6. To limit the storage time for the versions, click Turn on automatic cleanup.
7. Click Delete version chains older than [n] days, type or select 21, and click OK.
8. Check that all settings are correct and click Back up now. If you want your first backup to run
only at the time you specified in the Scheduler, click the down arrow to the right of the Back up
now button and select Later in the drop-down list.

3. Disk backup “Full version every 2 months + differential version twice a month”
Case: You need to back up your system partition twice a month and create a new full backup version
every two months. In addition, you want to use no more than 100 GB of disk space to store thebackup versions. Let’s see how you can do it using a custom backup scheme.
1. Start configuring a disk backup. Refer to Backing up disks and partitions.
2. Select your system partition (usually C:) as the backup source.
3. Click Options, open the Schedule tab, click Monthly, and then specify, for example, the 1st and15th days of the month. This will result in a backup version in about every two weeks. Then,
specify a start time for the backup operation.
4. Open the Backup scheme tab, and then choose Custom scheme instead of Incremental
scheme.
5. In the Backup method box, select Differential from the drop-down list.
6. Click Create a full version after every [n] differential versions, and type or select 3.
In that case the program will first create the initial full backup version (no matter how you set up
a backup process, the first backup version will always be the full one), and then three differential
versions, each one in about two weeks. Then again a full version and three differential versions
and so on. So every new full version will be created in two months.
7. To limit storage space for the versions, click Turn on automatic cleanup.
8. Click Keep size of the backup no more than [defined size], type or select 100 GB, and clickOK.

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Note
When the total backup size exceeds 100 GB, Acronis True Image OEM will clean up the existing
backup versions to make the remaining versions satisfy the size limit. The program will delete
the oldest backup chain consisting of a full backup version and three differential backup
versions.
9. Check that all settings are correct and click Back up now. If you want your first backup to be run
only at the time you specified in the Scheduler, click the down arrow to the right of the Back up
now button and select Later in the drop-down list.

Notifications for backup operation
Location: Options > Notifications
Sometimes a backup or recovery procedure can last an hour or longer. Acronis True Image OEM cannotify you when it is finished via email. The program can also duplicate messages issued during theoperation or send you the full operation log after operation completion.
By default, all notifications are disabled.

Free disk space threshold
You may want to be notified when the free space on the backup storage becomes less than thespecified threshold value. If after starting a backup Acronis True Image OEM finds out that the freespace in the selected backup location is already less than the specified value, the program will not
begin the actual backup process and will immediately inform you by displaying an appropriate
message. The message offers you three choices - to ignore it and proceed with the backup, tobrowse for another location for the backup or to cancel the backup.
If the free space becomes less than the specified value while the backup is being run, the program
will display the same message and you will have to make the same decisions.
Acronis True Image OEM can monitor free space on the following storage devices: local hard drives,
USB cards and drives, and Network shares (SMB). This option cannot be enabled for FTP servers and
CD/DVD drives.
To set the free disk space threshold
1. Select the Show notification message on insufficient free disk space check box.
2. Enter a threshold value in the Notify me when free disk space is less than box.
Note
The message will not be displayed if the Do not show messages and dialogs while processing(silent mode) check box is selected in the Error handling settings.

Excluding items from backup
Location: Options > Exclusions
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If you want to exclude unnecessary files from a backup, specify the appropriate file types on the
Exclusions tab of the backup options. You can specify exclusions for disk backups, file backups or
online backups.
When you select a specific file for backup, it cannot be excluded by the exclusion settings. The
settings are applicable only to files located on a partition, disk, or inside a folder selected for backup.

How to use the default exclusion settings
After you have installed the application, all the exclusion settings are set to the initial values. You
can change them for your current backup operation only or for all backups that will be created infuture. Select the Save as default check box to apply the modified settings to all further backup
operations by default. If you want to reset all the modified settings to the values that they wereoriginally set to when the product was installed, click the Reset to initial settings button.

What you can exclude and how
You have the following options to exclude files from backups:l

Do not notarize digitally signed files (available for notarized backups only)—The main purposeof a notarized backup is protection of your personal files. Therefore, there is no need to back up
system files, application files, and other files that have a digital signature. To exclude these files,
select the corresponding check box.

lExclude hidden files—Select this check box to exclude hidden files and folders from a file-levelbackup.

l

Exclude system files—Select this check box to exclude system files and folders from a file-levelbackup.

You can exclude files meeting the criteria you specify. To do this, select the Exclude files matching
the following criteria check box, click the plus sign, and then enter the exclusion criterion.
Note
We do not recommend excluding hidden and system files from the backups of your system
partition.
To add an exclusion criterionll

You can enter explicit file names for exclusion from the backup:ofile.ext - all such files will be excluded from the backup.

oC:\file.ext - the file.ext file on the C: disk will be excluded.

You can use wildcard characters (* and ?):o*.ext - all files with a .ext extension will be excluded.

o??name.ext - all files with a .ext extension, having six letters in their names (starting with any
two symbols (??) and ending with name), will be excluded.

l

To exclude a folder from a disk-level backup, click the plus sign, click the ellipsis button, go to thedirectory tree and select the folder you want to exclude, and then click OK.

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To delete a criterion added by mistake, select the criterion, and then click the minus sign.

Image creation mode
Location: Options > Advanced > Image creation mode
You can use these parameters to create an exact copy of your whole partitions or hard disks, andnot only the sectors that contain data. For example, this can be useful when you want to back up a
partition or disk containing an operating system that is not supported by Acronis True Image OEM.
Keep in mind that this mode increases processing time and usually results in a larger image file.
l

To create a sector-by-sector image, select the Back up sector-by-sector check box.

l

To include all unallocated disk space into the backup, select the Back up unallocated spacecheck box.
This check box is available only when the Back up sector-by-sector check box is selected.

Backup protection
Location: Backup dashboard > Options > Advanced > Backup protection
NoteThis topic is applicable to local and network backups. For information about protecting cloud
backups, refer to Online backup protection.
By default, there is no password protection for backups, but you can configure passwords to protect
your backup files.
Note
You cannot change the backup protection option for an existing backup.
To protect a backup
1. Enter the password for the backup into the corresponding field. We recommend that you use apassword longer than seven symbols and containing both letters (in upper and lower cases
preferably) and numbers to make it more difficult to guess.
Note
A password cannot be retrieved. Memorize the password that you specify for a backup
protection.
2. To confirm the previously entered password, retype it into the corresponding field.
3. [optional step] To increase the security of your confidential data, you can encrypt the backup
with strong industry-standard AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) cryptographic algorithm. AES
is available with three key lengths – 128, 192 and 256 bits to balance performance and protection
as desired.

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The 128-bit encryption key is sufficient for most applications. The longer the key, the moresecure your data. However, the 192 and 256-bit long keys significantly slow down the backup
process.
If you want to use AES encryption, choose one of the following keys:l

AES 128 - to use 128-bit encryption keyl

AES 192 - to use 192-bit encryption keyl

AES 256 - to use 256-bit encryption key

If you do not want to encrypt the backup and only want to protect a backup with a password,
select None.
4. Having specified the backup settings, click OK.

How to get access to a password-protected backup
Acronis True Image OEM asks for the password every time you try to modify the backup:lRecover data from the backuplEdit settings

l

Mount

l

Move

To access the backup, you must specify the correct password. For safety reasons, there is no way torecover lost passwords.

Online backup protection
Location: Options > Advanced > Backup protection
To protect your data on Acronis Cloud from unauthorized access, you can use encryption. In thiscase, when you back up your data, it will be encrypted by using the AES-256 algorithm and thensaved to Acronis Cloud. To encrypt and decrypt your data, the program needs the password, thatyou should specify when you configure the online backup. You can specify any set of characters you
like. Note that the password is case-sensitive.
Warning!
A password of an online backup cannot be retrieved. Memorize the password that you specify for
backup protection.
While attempting to access the encrypted data, the program asks you to enter the password.
Note
Note that you cannot set or change the password for a pre-existing online backup.

Pre/Post commands for backup
Location: Options > Advanced > Pre/Post commands
This option is not available for the backups that use Acronis Cloud as a backup destination.
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You can specify commands (or even batch files) that will be automatically executed before and after
the backup procedure.
For example, you may want to start/stop certain Windows processes, or check your data before
starting backup.
To specify commands (batch files)l

Select the Use custom commands check box.

lSelect a command to be executed before the backup process starts in the Pre-command field. To
create a new command or select a new batch file, click the Edit button.

l

Select a command to be executed after the backup process ends in the Post-command field. To
create a new command or select a new batch file, click the Edit button.

Please do not try to execute interactive commands, i.e. commands that require user input (forexample, pause). These are not supported.

Edit user command for backup
You can specify user commands to be executed before or after the backup procedure:l

In the Command field, type-in a command or select it from the list. Click ... to select a batch file.

l

In the Working directory field, type-in a path for command execution or select it from the list ofpreviously entered paths.

l

In the Arguments field enter or select command execution arguments from the list.

Disabling the Do not perform operations until the command's execution is complete
parameter (enabled for Pre commands by default), will permit the backup process to run
concurrently with your command execution.
The Abort the operation if the user command fails (enabled by default) parameter will abort theoperation if any errors occur in command execution.
You can test a command you entered by clicking the Test command button.

Backup splitting
Location: Options > Advanced > Backup splitting
Note
Acronis True Image OEM cannot split already existing backups. Backups can be split only whenbeing created.
This option is not available for the backups that use Acronis Cloud as a backup destination.
Large backups can be split into several files that together make up the original backup. A backup
can also be split for burning to removable media.
The default setting - Automatic. With this setting, Acronis True Image OEM will act as follows.
When backing up to a hard disk:
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l

If the selected disk has enough space and its file system allows the estimated file size, theprogram will create a single backup file.

l

If the storage disk has enough space, but its file system does not allow the estimated file size, theprogram will automatically split the image into several files.

l

If you do not have enough space to store the image on your hard disk, the program will warn you
and wait for your decision as to how you plan to fix the problem. You can try to free some
additional space and continue or select another disk.

When backing up to a CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, BD-R/RE:
Alternatively, you may select the desired file size from the drop-down list. The backup will then be
split into multiple files of the specified size. This is useful when you store a backup to a hard disk inorder to burn the backup to CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW or BD-R/RE later on.
Note
Creating images directly on CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, BD-R/RE might take considerably
more time than it would on a hard disk.

Backup validation option
Note
Certain features and functionalities may be unavailable in the edition that you use.
Location: Options > Advanced > Validation
You can specify the following settings:lValidate backup each time after it is completed—Select to check the integrity of the backup
version immediately after backup. We recommend that you enable this option when you back up
your critical data or system disk.

loValidate the latest diverse backup version only—A quick validation of the last backup slice.

o

Validate entire backup

Validate backup on schedule—Select to schedule validation of your backups to ensure thatthey remain "healthy".
oThe latest diverse backup version when it is completedoEntire backup when it is completed

The default settings are as follows:oFrequency—Once a month.

o

Day—The date when the backup was started.

oTime—The moment of backup start plus 15 minutes.

You can also configure start of the validation manually from the backup context menu.
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lValidate all versionslValidate the latest version

Backup reserve copy
Location: Options > Advanced > Backup reserve copy
This option is not available for the backups that use Acronis Cloud as a backup destination and for
local backups created in Acronis True Image OEM.
Backup reserve copy is an independent full backup version created immediately after a normal
backup. Even when you create an incremental or differential backup version containing only datachanges, the reserve copy will contain all the data selected for the normal backup. You can savereserve copies of your backups on the file system, a network drive, or a USB flash drive.
Note
CD/DVDs are not supported as locations for reserve copies.
To make a reserve copy
1. Select the Create a reserve copy of my backups check box.
2. Specify a location for the backup copies.
3. Select the reserve copy format. You can create it as an Acronis backup (.tib files) or just copy thesource files to the selected location as is, without any modification.
4. [Optional step] Protect the reserve copy with a password.
All other backup options will be inherited from the source backup.

Removable media settings
Location: Options > Advanced > Removable media settings
When backing up to removable media, you can make this media bootable by writing additional
components to it. Thus, you will not need a separate bootable disk.
Warning!
Acronis True Image OEM does not support creating bootable media if a flash drive is formatted in
NTFS or exFAT. The drive must have a FAT16 or FAT32 file system.
The following settings are available:l

Place Acronis True Image OEM on media—We strongly recommend selecting this option to
support USB, PC Card (formerly PCMCIA), and SCSI interfaces along with the storage devices
connected via them.

lPlace Acronis True Image OEM (64-bit) on media—The same option for 64-bit systems.

lPlace Acronis System Report on media—Select this option to generate system report that isused for collecting information about your system in case of any program problem. Report
generation will be available before you start Acronis True Image OEM from the bootable media.

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The generated system report can be saved to a USB flash drive.
l

Place Acronis System Report (64-bit) on media—The same option for 64-bit systems.

l

Ask for first media while creating backups on removable media—Select this option todisplay the Insert First Media prompt when backing up to removable media. With the default
setting (option selected), backing up to removable media may not be possible if the user is away,
because the program will wait for someone to click OK in the prompt box. Therefore, you should
disable the prompt when scheduling a backup to removable media. Then, if the removable media
is available (for example, CD-R/RW inserted) the backup can run unattended.

If you have other Acronis products installed on your computer, the bootable versions of these
programs' components will be offered as well.

32-bit or 64-bit components
Pay attention to which versions of Acronis True Image OEM and Acronis System Report arecompatible with your computer.
32-bit components

64-bit components

BIOS-based 32-bit computers+-

BIOS-based 64-bit computers++

EFI-based 32-bit computers+-

EFI-based 64-bit computers-+

Error handling
When Acronis True Image OEM encounters an error while performing a backup, it stops the backup
process and displays a message, waiting for a response on how to handle the error. You canconfigure an error handling policy, so Acronis True Image OEM will not stop the backup process, butwill handle the error according to the rules that you set, and will continue working.
NoteThis topic applies to backups that use local or network backup destinations.
To set up the error handling policy
1. On the Backup dashboard > Options > Advanced > Error handling
2. Set the error handling policy:l

Do not show messages and dialogs while processing (silent mode) - Enable this setting toignore errors during backup operations. This is useful when you cannot control the backup
process.

l

Ignore bad sectors - This option is available only for disk and partition backups. It lets you
successfully complete a backup even if there are bad sectors on the hard disk.
We recommend that you select this check box when your hard drive is failing, for example:

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oHard drive is making clicking or grinding noises during operation.

o

The S.M.A.R.T. system has detected hard drive issues and recommends that you back up
the drive as soon as possible.

When you leave this check box cleared, the backup may fail because of possible bad sectors
on the drive.
lWhen not enough space in ASZ, delete the oldest backup (enabled by default) - We
recommend that you select this check box when planning unattended scheduled backups tothe Acronis Secure Zone. Otherwise, when the Acronis Secure Zone is full during a backup
operation, Acronis True Image OEM suspends the backup and requires your action. The dialog
will open even when the Do not show messages and dialogs while processing (silentmode) setting is enabled.

l

Repeat attempt if a backup fails - This option allows you to automatically repeat a backup
attempt if the backup fails for some reason. You can specify the number of attempts and theinterval between attempts. Note that if the error interrupting the backup persists, the backup
will not be created.
Note
Scheduled backup operations will not start until all attempts are completed.

3. Click OK.

File-level security settings for backup
Location: Options > Advanced > File-level security settings
Note
This option is only available for file-level backups.
This option is not available for the backups that use Acronis Cloud as a backup destination.
You can specify security settings for backed up files:lPreserve file security settings in backups - selecting this option will preserve all the security
properties (permissions assigned to groups or users) of the backup files for further recovery.
By default, files and folders are saved in the backup with their original Windows security settings(i.e. permissions for read, write, execute and so on for each user or user group, set in file
Properties -> Security). If you recover a secured file/folder on a computer without the user
specified in the permissions, you may not be able to read or modify this file.
To eliminate this kind of problem, you can disable preserving file security settings in backups.
Then the recovered files/folders will always inherit the permissions from the folder to which they
are recovered (parent folder or disk, if recovered to the root).
Or, you can disable file security settings during recovery, even if they are available in the backup.
The result will be the same.

l

In backups, store encrypted files in a decrypted state (the preset is disabled) - check theoption if there are encrypted files in the backup and you want them to be accessed by any user

62

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after recovery. Otherwise, only the user who encrypted the files/folders will be able to read them.
Decryption may also be useful if you are going to recover encrypted files on another computer.
If you do not use the encryption feature available in Windows XP and later operating systems,
simply ignore this option. (Files/folders encryption is set in Properties -> General -> Advanced
Attributes -> Encrypt contents to secure data).

Computer shutdown
Location: Options > Advanced > Computer shutdown
You can configure the following options:lStop all current operations when I shut down the computer—When you turn off yourcomputer while Acronis True Image OEM is performing a long operation, for example a disk
backup to the cloud, this operation prevents the computer from shutdown. When this check box
is selected, Acronis True Image OEM automatically stops all its current operations before
shutdown. This may take about two minutes. The next time you run Acronis True Image OEM, it
will restart the stopped backups.

lShut down the computer after the backup is complete—Select this option if the backup
process you are configuring may take a long time. In this case, you will not have to wait until theoperation completion. The program will perform the backup and turn off your computer
automatically.
This option is also useful when you schedule your backups. For example, you may want toperform backups every weekday in the evening to save all your work. Schedule the backup andselect the check box. After that you may leave your computer when you finish your work knowingthat the critical data will be backed up and the computer will be turned off.

Performance of backup operation
Location for backups to local destinations: Options > Advanced > Performance

Compression level
You can choose the compression level for a backup:lNone—The data will be copied without any compression, which may significantly increase thebackup file size.

lNormal—The recommended data compression level (set by default).

lHigh—Higher backup file compression level, takes more time to create a backup.

l

Max—Maximum backup compression, but takes a long time to create a backup.

Note
The optimal data compression level depends on the type of files stored in the backup. For example,
even maximum compression will not significantly reduce the backup size, if the backup contains
essentially compressed files, like .jpg, .pdf or .mp3.

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Note
You cannot set or change the compression level for a pre-existing backup.

Operation priority
Changing the priority of a backup or recovery process can make it run faster or slower (dependingon whether you raise or lower the priority), but it can also adversely affect the performance of otherrunning programs. The priority of any process running in a system, determines the amount of CPU
usage and system resources allocated to that process. Decreasing the operation priority will free
more resources for other CPU tasks. Increasing backup or recovery priority may speed up theprocess by taking resources from the other currently running processes. The effect will depend on
total CPU usage and other factors.
You can set up the operation priority:l

Low (enabled by default)—The backup or recovery process will run slower, but the performanceof other programs will be increased.

l

Normal—The backup or recovery process will have the equal priority with other processes.

lHigh—The backup or recovery process will run faster, but the performance of other programs
will be reduced. Be aware that selecting this option may result in 100% CPU usage by Acronis
True Image OEM.

Network connection transfer rate
When you back up data to Acronis Cloud, you can change the connection speed used by Acronis
True Image OEM. Set the connection speed that will allow you to use Internet and network
resources without annoying slowdowns.
To set up the connection speed, select one of the following options under Network connection
transfer rate:l

Maximum
The data transfer rate is maximum within a system configuration.

lLimit upload speed to
You can specify a maximum value for data upload speed.

Snapshot for backup
Warning!
This option is for advanced users only. Do not change the default setting if you are not sure which
option to choose.
During a disk or partition backup process, which often takes a long time, some of the backed-up
files may be in use, locked, or being modified in one way or another. For example, you may work on
a document and save it from time to time. If Acronis True Image OEM backed up files one by one,64

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your open file would likely be changed since the backup start, and then saved in the backup to adifferent point in time. Therefore, the data in the backup would be inconsistent. To eliminate it,
Acronis True Image OEM creates a so-called snapshot that fixes the data to back up to a particularpoint in time. This is done before the backup starts and guarantees that the data is in consistentstate.
Select an option from the Snapshot for backup list:lNo snapshot—A snapshot will not be created. The files will be backed up one by one as an
ordinary copy operation.

l

VSS—This option is default for disk-level and the Entire PC backups, and guarantees dataconsistency in the backup.
Warning!
This is the only recommended option for backing up your system. Your computer may not start
after recovery from a backup created with a different snapshot type.

l

Acronis snapshot—A snapshot will be created with the Acronis driver used in previous versionsof Acronis True Image OEM.

l

VSS without writers—This option is default for file-level backups. VSS writers are special VSS
components for notifying applications that a snapshot is going to be created, so that theapplications prepare their data for the snapshot. The writers are needed for applications that
perform large number of file operations and require data consistency, for example databases.
Because such applications are not installed on home computers, there is no need to use writers.
In addition, this reduces the time required for file-level backups.

Selecting a data center for backup
Location: Options > Advanced > Data center
Note
This option is only available for online backup.
When you create a backup to Acronis Cloud, your data is uploaded to one of the Acronis data
centers located in different countries. Initially, the data center is defined as the one closest to yourlocation when you create your Acronis account. Afterwards, your online backups and synced files
are stored in the same data center, by default.
We recommend that you set the data center for a backup manually, when you are in a different
country and your default data center is not the closest to your current location. This will significantly
increase the data upload rate.
Note
You cannot change the data center for a pre-existing backup.

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Laptop power settings
Location: Settings > Battery saver
NoteThis setting is only available on computers with batteries (laptops, computers with UPS).
Long-term backups may consume the battery power quite fast. When you work on your laptop andthere is no power supply around you or when your computer has switched to UPS after a blackout,
it's reasonable to save the battery charge.
To save the battery chargelOn the sidebar, click Settings > Battery saver, select the Do not back up when battery power
is less than check box, and then use the slider to set the exact battery level for the charge saving
to start.

When this setting is turned on, if you unplug your laptop power adapter or use a UPS for yourcomputer after a blackout, and the remaining battery charge is equal or below the level in the slider,
all current backups are paused and scheduled backups will not start. Once you plug the power
adapter back in or the power supply is restored, the paused backups will be resumed. The
scheduled backups that have been missed because of this setting will be started as well.
This setting does not block backup functionality completely. You can always start a backup
manually.

Operations with backups
Backup operations menu
The backup operations menu provides quick access to additional operations that can be performed
with the selected backup.
The backup operations menu can contain the following items:lRename (not available for backups to Acronis Cloud)—Set a new name for a backup in the list.
The backup files will not be renamed.

lReconfigure (for backups manually added to the backup list)—Configure the settings of a backup
created by a previous version. This item may also appear for backups created on anothercomputer and added to the backup list without importing their settings.
Without backup settings, you cannot refresh the backup by clicking Back up now. Also, you
cannot edit and clone the backup settings.

lValidate all versions—Start validation of all backup slices.

l

Validate last version—Start quick validation of the last backup slice.

lClean up versions—Delete backup versions you no longer need.

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lClone settings—Create a new empty backup box with the settings of the initial backup andnamed (1) [the initial backup name]. Change the settings, save them, and then click Back up
now on the cloned backup box.

lMove—Move all of the backup files to another location. The subsequent backup versions will besaved to the new location.
If you change the backup destination by editing the backup settings, only new backup versions
will be saved to the new location. The earlier backup versions will remain in the old location.

lDelete—Depending on a backup type, you can completely delete the backup from its location or
choose whether you want to delete the backup box only. When you delete a backup box, thebackup files remain in the location and you will be able to add the backup to the list later. Notethat when you delete a backup completely, the deletion cannot be undone.

lOpen location—Open the folder containing the backup files.

lSearch files—Find a specific file or folder in a backup by entering its name into the search field.

lConvert to VHD (for disk-level backups)—Convert a selected Acronis backup version (.tibx file) tovirtual hard disks (.vhd(x) files). The initial backup version will not be modified.

Backup activity and statistics
On the Activity tab and the Backup tab, you can view additional information on a backup, such as
backup history and file types the backup contains. The Activity tab contains a list of operations
performed on the selected backup starting from its creation, the operation statuses, and statistics.
This comes in handy when you need to find out what was happening to the backup in backgroundmode, for example the number and statuses of scheduled backup operations, size of backed-up
data, results of backup validation, etc.
When you create the first version of a backup, the Backup tab displays a graphical representation of
the backup content by file types.

The Activity tab
Note
Nonstop backup and mobile backups do not have an activity feed.
To view a backup activity
1. On the sidebar, click Backup.
2. In the backup list, select the backup, the history of which you want to view.
3. On the right pane, click Activity.

What you can view and analyze:
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lBackup operations and their statuses (successful, failed, canceled, interrupted, and so on)lOperations performed on the backup, and their statuseslError messagesl

Backup commentslBackup operation details, including:oBacked up—Size of the data that the last backup version contains.
For file-level backups, Acronis True Image OEM calculates the size of files to back up. The valueof this parameter is equal to the value of the Data to recover for full backup versions. For
differential and incremental versions, it is usually less than the Data to recover, because in thiscase Acronis True Image OEM additionally uses data from the previous versions for recovery.
For disk-level backups, Acronis True Image OEM calculates the size of the hard drive sectorsthat contain data to back up. Because sectors may contain hard links to the files, even for fulldisk-level backup versions the value of this parameter can be less than the value of the Data torecover parameter.

o

Speed—Backup operation speed.

oTime spent—Time spent for the backup operation.

oData to recover—Size of the data that can be recovered from the last backup version.

oMethod—Backup operation method (full, incremental, or differential).

For more information, refer to the Knowledge Base article: https://kb.acronis.com/content/60104.

The Backup tab
When a backup is created, you can view statistics on types of the backed-up files that the lastbackup version contains:

Point to a color segment to see the number of files and the total size for each data category:l

PictureslVideo filesl

Audio fileslDocumentslSystem fileslOther file types, including hidden system files

Data to recover shows the size of the original data that you selected to back up.

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Sorting backups in the list
By default, the backups are sorted by the date they were created, starting from the newest to oldest.
To change the order, select the appropriate sorting type in the upper part of the backup list. You
have the following options:CommandName

Description
This command sorts all backups in alphabetical order.
To reverse the order, select Z —> A.

Date createdThis command sorts all backups from newest to oldest.
To reverse the order, select Oldest on top.

Date updated

This command sorts all backups by date of the last version. The newer the lastSort

backup version, the higher the backup will be placed in the list.

by

To reverse the order, select Least recent on top.
Size

This command sorts all backups by size, from biggest to smallest.
To reverse the order, select Smallest on top.

Source typeThis command sorts all backups by the source type.

Destination

This command sorts all backups by the destination type.

type

Validating backups
The validation procedure checks whether you will be able to recover data from a backup.
For example, backup validation is important before you recover your system. If you start recovery
from a corrupted backup, the process will fail and your computer may become unbootable. We
recommend that you validate system partition backups under bootable media. Other backups may
be validated in Windows. See also Preparing for recovery and Basic concepts.
To validate an entire backup in Windows
1. Start Acronis True Image OEM, and then click Backup on the sidebar.
2. In the backup list, click the down arrow icon next to the backup to validate, and then click
Validate.
To validate a specific backup version or an entire backup in a standalone version of Acronis True
Image OEM (bootable media)
1. On the Recovery tab, find the backup that contains the version that you want to validate. If the
backup is not listed, click Browse for backup, and then specify the path to the backup. Acronis
True Image OEM adds this backup to the list.

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2. Right-click the backup or a specific version, and then click Validate Archive. This opens the
Validate Wizard.
3. Click Proceed.

Backup to various places
You can save versions of a backup to different destinations by changing the backup destination
when editing the backup settings. For example, after you save the initial full backup to an external
USB hard drive, you can change the backup destination to a USB stick by editing the backup settings.
Note
You cannot continue backing up to an optical disc.

Splitting backups on the fly
When free space on the destination storage (CD-R/RW or DVD-R/RW) is insufficient to complete thecurrent backup operation, the program displays a warning message.
To complete the backup, perform one of the followinglFree up some space on the disk, and then click Retry.

l

Click Browse, and then select another storage device.

l

Click Format to erase all data on the disk, and then proceed with the backup.

When versions of a backup are stored in different locations, you may need to specify the locations
during recovery.

Adding an existing backup to the list
You may have Acronis True Image OEM backups created by a previous product version or copiedfrom another computer. Every time you start Acronis True Image OEM, it scans your computer forsuch backups and adds them to the backup list automatically.
If you have backups that are not shown in the list, you can add them manually.
To add backups manually
1. In the Backup section, at the bottom of the backup list, click the arrow icon, and then click Add
existing backup. The program opens a window where you can browse for backups on yourcomputer.
2. Select a backup version (a .tib file), and then click Add.
The entire backup will be added to the list.

Cleaning up backups, backup versions, and replicas
To delete backups and backup versions that you no longer need, use the tools provided by Acronis
True Image OEM.

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Acronis True Image OEM stores information on the backups in a metadata information database.
Therefore, deleting unneeded backup files in File Explorer will not delete the information about
these backups from the database. This will result in errors when the program tries to perform
operations on the backups that no longer exist.

Deleting an entire backup and its replica
In the Backup section, click the down arrow icon next to the backup to delete, and then click Delete.
Depending on the backup type, this command completely deletes the backup from its location, or
allows you to choose whether you want to delete the backup completely or delete the backup box
only. When you delete a backup box only, the backup files remain in the location and you will beable to add the backup to the list later. Note that if you delete a backup completely, the deletioncannot be undone.
When you delete a backup, its replica is deleted automatically together with it. You cannot delete a
local backup and still save its replica. However, you can delete a replica alone and keep the local
backup.

Deleting an entire backup replica
You can delete a replica with its original backup or separately. To delete it with the backup, delete
the backup in the way described above.
To delete a replica without deleting the backup, in the Backup section, click the down arrow icon
next to the backup with the replica to delete, and then click Delete replica.

Cleaning up backup versions automatically
1. Go to the Backup section.
2. From the backup list, select the backup for which you want to clean up replica versions, and thenclick Options.
3. On the Backup scheme tab, select Custom scheme, select a backup method, and then click
Turn on automatic cleanup.
4. Configure cleanup rules for the backup.
Refer to Custom schemes for details.

Cleaning up replica versions automatically
1. Go to the Backup section.
2. From the backup list, select the backup for which you want to clean up replica versions, and thenclick Options.
3. On the Advanced tab, open the Acronis Cloud cleanup tab.
l

Use the Store no more than … recent backup versions option to enter a value that limits
the maximum number of replica versions that are stored.

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lSelect the Delete backup versions that are older than check box and enter a value that
limits the maximum age of the older versions. The most recent versions will be kept and allother versions will be automatically deleted.

Cleaning up backup and replica versions manually
When you want to delete backup versions that you no longer need, use the tools provided in theapplication. If you delete backup version files outside Acronis True Image OEM, for example in File
Explorer, this will result in errors during operations with the backups.
Versions of the following backups cannot be deleted manually:l

Backups stored on CD, DVD, BD, or Acronis Secure Zone.

l

Nonstop backups.

lNotarized backups.

To clean up specific backup versions
1. Start Acronis True Image OEM.
2. In the Backup section, click the down arrow icon next to the backup to clean up, and then click
Clean up versions.
The Clean up backup versions window opens.
3. Select the required versions and click Delete.
4. Click Delete in the confirmation request.
Please wait for the cleanup operation to complete. After the cleanup, some auxiliary files may stayin the storage. Do not delete them.
Cleaning up versions that have dependent versions
When you select a backup version to delete, remember that this version may have dependent
versions. In this case, the dependent versions will be selected for deletion as well, because data
recovery from such versions becomes impossible.
l

When you select a full version - the program also selects all dependent incremental anddifferential versions till the next full version. In other words, the entire backup version chain will
be deleted.

lWhen you select a differential version - the program also selects all dependent incremental
versions within the backup version chain.

lWhen you select an incremental version - the program also selects all dependent incremental
versions within the backup version chain.

See also
Full, incremental and differential backups.

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Recovering data
Recovering disks and partitions
Recovering your system after a crash
When your computer fails to boot, it is advisable to at first try to find the cause using thesuggestions given in Trying to determine the crash cause. If the crash is caused by corruption of theoperating system, use a backup to recover your system. Make the preparations described in
Preparing for recovery and then proceed with recovering your system.

Trying to determine the crash cause
A system crash can be due to two basic factors:lHardware failure
In this scenario, it is better to let your service center handle the repairs. However, you may wantto perform some routine tests. Check the cables, connectors, power of external devices, etc.
Then, restart the computer. If there is a hardware problem, the Power-On Self Test (POST) will
inform you about the failure.
If the POST does not reveal a hardware failure, enter BIOS and check whether it recognizes yoursystem hard disk drive. To enter BIOS, press the required key combination (Del, F1, Ctrl+Alt+Esc,
Ctrl+Esc, or some other, depending on your BIOS) during the POST sequence. Usually themessage with the required key combination is displayed during the startup test. Pressing thiscombination takes you to the setup menu. Go to the hard disk autodetection utility which usuallycomes under "Standard CMOS Setup" or "Advanced CMOS setup". If the utility does not detect
the system drive, it has failed and you need to replace the drive.

l

Operating system corruption (Windows cannot start up)
If the POST correctly detects your system hard disk drive, then the cause of the crash is probably
a virus, malware or corruption of a system file required for booting. In this case, recover thesystem using a backup of your system disk or system partition. Refer to Recovering your systemfor details.

Preparing for recovery
We recommend that you perform the following actions before recovery:l

Scan the computer for viruses if you suspect that the crash occurred due to a virus or malware
attack.

l

Under bootable media, try a test recovery to a spare hard drive, if you have one.

l

Validate the image under bootable media. A backup that can be read during validation in
Windows, may not always be readable in a Linux environment.
Under bootable media, there are two ways to validate a backup:

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oTo validate a backup manually, on the Recovery tab, right-click a backup and select Validate
Archive.

o

To validate a backup automatically before recovery, on the Options step of the Recovery
Wizard, select the Validate backup archive before recovery check box.

l

Assign unique names (labels) to all partitions on your hard drives. This will make finding the disk
containing your backups easier.
When you use the bootable media, it creates disk drive letters that might differ from the way
Windows identifies drives. For example, the D: disk identified in the bootable media might
correspond to the E: disk in Windows.

Recovering your system to the same disk
Before you start, we recommend that you complete the procedures described in Preparing forrecovery.
To recover your system
1. Attach the external drive if it contains the backup to be used for recovery and make sure that thedrive is powered on.
2. Arrange the boot order in BIOS so as to make your Acronis bootable media (CD, DVD or USB
drive) the first boot device. See Arranging boot order in BIOS or UEFI BIOS.
If you use a UEFI computer, pay attention to the boot mode of the bootable media in UEFI BIOS.
It is recommended that the boot mode matches the type of the system in the backup. If the
backup contains a BIOS system, then boot the bootable media in BIOS mode; if the system is
UEFI, then ensure that UEFI mode is set.

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3. Boot from Acronis bootable media and select Acronis True Image OEM.
4. On the Home screen, select My disks below Recover.

5. Select the system disk or partition backup to be used for recovery.
When the backup is not displayed, click Browse and specify path to the backup manually.
Note
If the backup is located on a USB drive, and the drive is not recognized correctly, check the USB
port version. If it is a USB 3.0 or USB 3.1, try connecting the drive to a USB 2.0 port.
6. Select Recover whole disks and partitions at the Recovery method step.

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7. [Optional] At the Recovery point step, select the date and time to recover your system to.
8. Select the system partition (usually C) on the What to recover screen. If the system partition has
a different letter, select the partition using the Flags column. It must have the Pri, Act flags. If
you have the System Reserved partition, select it, too.

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9. At the Settings of partition C (or the letter of the system partition, if it is different) step checkthe default settings and click Next if they are correct. Otherwise, change the settings as required
before clicking Next. Changing the settings will be needed when recovering to the new hard diskof a different capacity.
10. Carefully read the summary of operations at the Finish step. If you have not resized thepartition, the sizes in the Deleting partition and Recovering partition items must match.
Having checked the summary click Proceed.

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11. When the operation finishes, exit the standalone version of Acronis True Image OEM, remove
Acronis bootable media and boot from the recovered system partition. After making sure thatyou have recovered Windows to the state you need, restore the original boot order.

Recovering your system to a new disk under bootable media
Before you start, we recommend that you complete the preparations described in Preparing forrecovery. You do not need to format the new disk, as this will be done in the process of recovery.
Note
It is recommended that your old and new hard drives work in the same controller mode (forexample, IDE or AHCI). Otherwise, your computer might not start from the new hard drive.
To recover your system to a new disk
1. Install the new hard drive to the same position in the computer and use the same cable andconnector that was used for the original drive. If this is not possible, install the new drive towhere it will be used.
2. Attach the external drive if it contains the backup to be used for recovery and make sure that thedrive is powered on.

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3. Arrange the boot order in BIOS so as to make your bootable media (CD, DVD or USB stick) the
first boot device. See Arranging boot order in BIOS or UEFI BIOS.
If you use an UEFI computer, pay attention to the boot mode of the bootable media in UEFI BIOS.
It is recommended that the boot mode matches the type of the system in the backup. If the
backup contains a BIOS system, then boot the bootable media in BIOS mode; if the system is
UEFI, then ensure that UEFI mode is set.
4. Boot from the bootable media and select Acronis True Image OEM.
5. On the Home screen, select My disks below Recover.
6. Select the system disk or partition backup to be used for recovery. When the backup is not
displayed, click Browse and specify path to the backup manually.
Note
If the backup is located on a USB drive, and the drive is not recognized correctly, check the USB
port version. If it is a USB 3.0 or USB 3.1, try connecting the drive to a USB 2.0 port.
7. If you have a hidden partition (for example, the System Reserved partition or a partition createdby the PC manufacturer), click Details on the wizard's toolbar. Remember the location and sizeof the hidden partition, because these parameters need to be the same on your new disk.

8. Select Recover whole disks and partitions at the Recovery method step.
9. On the What to recover step, select the boxes of the partitions to be recovered.
If you select an entire disk, MBR and Track 0 of the disk will also be recovered.

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Selecting partitions leads to appearance of the relevant steps Settings of partition. Note thatthese steps start with partitions which do not have an assigned disk letter (as usually is the casewith hidden partitions). The partitions then take an ascending order of partition disk letters. Thisorder cannot be changed. The order may differ from the physical order of the partitions on thehard disk.
10. On the Settings of the hidden partition step (usually named Settings of Partition 1-1), specify thefollowing settings:lLocation—Click New location, select your new disk by either its assigned name or capacity,and then click Accept.

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l

Type—Check the partition type and change it, if necessary. Ensure that the System Reserved
partition (if any) is primary and marked as active.

lSize—Click Change default in the Partition size area. By default the partition occupies theentire new disk. Enter the correct size in the Partition size field (you can see this value on the
What to recover step). Then drag this partition to the same location that you saw in the
Backup Information window, if necessary. Click Accept.

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11. On the Settings of Partition C step, specify the settings for the second partition, which in thiscase is your system partition.
lClick New location, and then select unallocated space on the destination disk that will receive
the partition.

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lChange the partition type, if necessary. The system partition must be primary.

lSpecify the partition size, which by default equals the original size. Usually there is no freespace after the partition, so allocate all the unallocated space on the new disk to the second
partition. Click Accept, and then click Next.

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12. Carefully read the summary of operations to be performed and then click Proceed.

When the recovery is complete
Before you boot the computer, disconnect the old drive (if any). If Windows "sees" both the new andold drive during the boot, this will result in problems booting Windows. If you upgrade the old drive
to a larger capacity new one, disconnect the old drive before the first boot.
Remove the bootable media and boot the computer to Windows. It may report that new hardware(hard drive) is found and Windows needs to reboot. After making sure that the system operates
normally, restore the original boot order.

Acronis Universal Restore
When you recover your system to dissimilar hardware, the target computer could fail to boot. This isbecause the new hardware is incompatible with critical drivers included in the image. Acronis
Universal Restore will help you make the target computer bootable. Refer to Acronis Universal
Restore for details.

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Recovering partitions and disks
You can recover your disks from backups located on local storage, network storage, or Acronis
Cloud.
Note
Depending on your Internet connection speed, disk recovery from Acronis Cloud may take a longtime.
To recover partitions or disks
1. Start Acronis True Image OEM.
2. If you want to recover your data from Acronis Cloud, make sure that you are signed in to yourAcronis account.
3. In the Backup section, select the backup which contains the partitions or disks you want torecover, then open the Recovery tab, and then click Recover disks.
4. In the Backup version list, select the backup version you want to recover by its backup date andtime.

5. Select the Disks tab to recover disks or Partitions tab to recover specific partitions. Select theobjects you need to recover.
6. In the recovery destination field below the partition name, select the destination partition.
Unsuitable partitions are marked by a red border. Note that all data on the destination partition
will be lost because it is replaced by the recovered data and file system.

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Note
To recover to the original partition, at least 5 % of the partition space must be free. Otherwise,
the Recover now button will be unavailable.
7. [Optional] To set up additional parameters for the disk recovery process, click Recovery
options.
8. After you finish with your selections, click Recover now to start recovery.

Partition properties
When you recover partitions to a basic disk, you can change properties of these partitions. To open
the Partition Properties window, click Properties next to the selected target partition.

You can change the following partition properties:lLetter

l

Label

l

Type
You can make the partition primary, primary active, or logical.

l

86

Size

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You can resize the partition by dragging the right-side border with your mouse, on the horizontalbar on the screen. To assign the partition a specific size, enter the appropriate number into thePartition size field. You can also select the position of unallocated space—before or after thepartition.

About recovery of dynamic/GPT disks and volumes
Recovery of dynamic volumes
You can recover dynamic volumes to the following locations on the local hard drives:lDynamic volume.
Note
Manual resizing of dynamic volumes during recovery to dynamic disks is not supported. If you
need to resize a dynamic volume during recovery, it should be recovered to a basic disk.
oOriginal location (to the same dynamic volume).
The target volume type does not change.

oAnother dynamic disk or volume.
The target volume type does not change. For example, when recovering a dynamic stripedvolume over a dynamic spanned volume the target volume remains spanned.

oUnallocated space of the dynamic group.
The recovered volume type will be the same as it was in the backup.

lBasic volume or disk.
The target volume remains basic.

lBare-metal recovery.
When performing a so called "bare-metal recovery" of dynamic volumes to a new unformatted
disk, the recovered volumes become basic. If you want the recovered volumes to remain
dynamic, the target disks should be prepared as dynamic (partitioned and formatted). This can bedone using third-party tools, for example, Windows Disk Management snap-in.

Recovery of basic volumes and diskslWhen recovering a basic volume to an unallocated space of the dynamic group, the recovered
volume becomes dynamic.

lWhen recovering a basic disk to a dynamic disk of a dynamic group consisting of two disks, therecovered disk remains basic. The dynamic disk to which the recovery is performed becomes"missing" and a spanned/striped dynamic volume on the second disk becomes "failed".

Partition style after recovery
The target disk's partition style depends on whether your computer supports UEFI and on whether
your system is BIOS-booted or UEFI-booted. See the following table:87© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

My system is BIOS-booted (Windows or

My system is UEFI-booted (Windows orAcronis bootable media)

Acronis bootable media)

My source

The operation will not affect neither

After operation completion, the partition

disk is MBR

partition layout nor bootability of the disk:style will be converted to GPT style, but theand my OS

partition style will remain MBR, theoperating system will fail booting from UEFI,

does notdestination disk will be bootable in BIOS.

since your operating system does notsupport UEFI

support it.

My source

The operation will not affect neither

The destination partition will be converted

disk is MBR

partition layout nor bootability of the disk:

to GPT style that will make the destinationand my OS

partition style will remain MBR, thedisk bootable in UEFI. See Example ofsupports

destination disk will be bootable in BIOS.

recovery to UEFI system.

UEFI
My source

After operation completion, the partition

After operation completion, the partition

disk is GPT

style will remain GPT, the system will failstyle will remain GPT, the operating system

and my OSbooting on BIOS, because your operating

will be bootable on UEFI.

supports

system cannot support booting from GPT

UEFI

on BIOS.

Example of recovery to a UEFI system
Here is an example for transferring a system with the following conditions:l

The source disk is MBR and the OS supports UEFI.

l

The target system is UEFI-booted.

lYour old and new hard drives work in the same controller mode (for example, IDE or AHCI).

Before you start the procedure, ensure that you have:l

Acronis bootable media.
Refer to Creating Acronis bootable media for details.

lBackup of your system disk created in disk mode.
To create this backup, switch to disk mode, and then select the hard drive that contains yoursystem partition. Refer to Backing up disks and partitions for details.

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To transfer your system from an MBR disk to a UEFI-booted computer
1. Boot from the Acronis bootable media in UEFI mode and select Acronis True Image OEM.
2. Run the Recovery wizard and follow the instructions described in Recovering your system.
3. On the What to recover step, select the check box next to the disk name to select the entire
system disk.
In the example below, you need to select the Disk 1 check box:

4. On the Finish step, click Proceed.
When the operation finishes, the destination disk is converted to GPT style so that it is bootable in
UEFI.
After the recovery, ensure that you boot your computer in UEFI mode. You may need to change theboot mode of your system disk in the user interface of the UEFI boot manager.

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Arranging boot order in BIOS or UEFI BIOS
To boot your computer from Acronis bootable media, you need to arrange boot order so the media
is the first booting device. The boot order is changed in BIOS or UEFI BIOS, depending on yourcomputer firmware interface. The procedure in both cases is very similar.
To boot from Acronis bootable media
1. If you use a USB flash drive or external drive as a bootable media, plug it into the USB port.
2. Turn your computer on. During the Power-On Self Test (POST), you will see the key combinationthat you need to press in order to enter BIOS or UEFI BIOS.
3. Press the key combination (such as, Del, F1, Ctrl+Alt+Esc, Ctrl+Esc). The BIOS or UEFI BIOS
setup utility will open. Note that utilities may differ in appearance, sets of items, names, etc.
Note
Some motherboards have a so-called boot menu opened by pressing a certain key or key
combination, for instance, F12. The boot menu allows selecting the boot device from a list of
bootable devices without changing the BIOS or UEFI BIOS setup.
4. If you use a CD or DVD as a bootable media, insert it in the CD or DVD drive.
5. Make your bootable media (CD, DVD or USB drive) device the first booting device:a. Navigate to the Boot order setting by using the arrow keys on your keyboard.
b. Place the pointer on the device of your bootable media and make it the first item in the list.

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You can usually use the Plus Sign and the Minus Sign keys to change the order.

6. Exit BIOS or UEFI BIOS and save the changes that you made. The computer will boot fromAcronis bootable media.
Note
If the computer fails to boot from the first device, it tries to boot from the second device in the list,
and so on.

Recovering files and folders
You can recover files and folders both from file-level and disk-level backups.
To recover data in Acronis True Image OEM
1. On the sidebar, click Backup.
2. From the backup list, select the backup which contains the files or folders that you want torecover, and then open the Recovery tab.
3. [Optional] On the toolbar, in the Version drop-down list, select the required date and time of the
backup. By default, the latest backup is recovered.
4. Select the check box for the corresponding files or folders that you want to recover, and click
Next.
5. [Optional] By default, the data is restored in the original location. To change it, click Browse on
the toolbar, and then select the required destination folder.

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6. [Optional] Set the options for the recovery process (recovery process priority, file-level security
settings, etc.). To set the options, click Recovery options. The options you set here will beapplied only to the current recovery operation.
7. To start the recovery process, click the Recover now button.
The selected file version is downloaded to the specified destination.
You can stop the recovery by clicking Cancel. Keep in mind that the aborted recovery may stillcause changes in the destination folder.
Note
If you selected several files and folders, they will be placed into a zip archive.

Searching backup content
While recovering data from local backups, you can search for specific files and folders stored in theselected backup.
To search for files and folders
1. Start recovering data as described in Recovering partitions and disks or Recovering files andfolders.
2. When selecting files and folders to recover, enter the file or folder name into the Search field.
The program shows search results.
You can also use the common Windows wildcard characters: * and ?. For example, to find all files
with extension .exe, enter *.exe. To find all .exe files with names consisting of five symbols andstarting with “my”, enter My???.exe.

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3. By default, Acronis True Image OEM searches the folder selected on the previous step. To
include the entire backup in the search, click the down arrow, and then click in entire backup.
To return to the previous step, delete the search text, and then click the cross icon.
4. After the search is complete, select the files that you want to recover, and then click Next.
Note
Pay attention to the Version column. The files and folders that belong to different backup
versions cannot be recovered at the same time.

Recovery options
You can configure options for the disk/partition and file recovery processes. After you installed theapplication, all options are set to the initial values. You can change them for your current recovery
operation only or for all further recovery operations as well. Select the Save the settings asdefault check box to apply the modified settings to all further recovery operations by default.
Note, that disk recovery options and file recovery options are fully independent, and you should
configure them separately.
If you want to reset all the modified options to their initial values that were set after the productinstallation, click the Reset to initial settings button.

Disk recovery mode
Location: Recovery options > Advanced > Disk recovery mode
With this option you can select the disk recovery mode for image backups.
lRecover sector-by-sector - select this check box if you want to recover both used and unused
sectors of disks or partitions. This option will be effective only when you choose to recover asector-by-sector backup.

Pre/Post commands for recovery
Location: Recovery options > Advanced > Pre/Post commands
You can specify commands (or even batch files) that will be automatically executed before and after
the recovery procedure.
For example, you may want to start/stop certain Windows processes, or check your data for viruses
before recovery.
To specify commands (batch files):l

Select a command to be executed before the recovery process starts in the Pre-command field.
To create a new command or select a new batch file, click the Edit button.

l

Select a command to be executed after the recovery process ends in the Post-command field. To
create a new command or select a new batch file, click the Edit button.

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Please do not try to execute interactive commands, i.e. commands that require user input (forexample, "pause"). These are not supported.

Edit user command for recovery
You can specify user commands to be executed before or after recovery:l

In the Command field type-in a command or select it from the list. Click ... to select a batch file.

l

In the Working directory field type-in a path for command execution or select it from the list ofpreviously entered paths.

l

In the Arguments field enter or select command execution arguments from the list.

Disabling the Do not perform operations until the command execution is complete parameter(enabled by default), will permit the recovery process to run concurrently with your commandexecution.
The Abort the operation if the user command fails (enabled by default) parameter will abort theoperation if any errors occur in command execution.
You can test the command you entered by clicking the Test command button.

Validation option
Location: Recovery options > Advanced > Validationl

Validate backup before recovery—Enable this option to check the backup integrity before
recovery.

l

Check the file system after recovery—Enable this option to check the file system integrity on
the recovered partition.
Note
Only FAT16/32 and NTFS file systems can be checked.
Note
The file system will not be checked if a reboot is required during recovery, for example, whenrecovering the system partition to its original place.

Computer restart
Location: Recovery options > Advanced > Computer restart
If you want the computer to reboot automatically when it is required for recovery, select the Restart
the computer automatically if needed for the recovery check box. This may be used when apartition locked by the operating system has to be recovered.

File recovery options
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You can select the following file recovery options:lRecover files with their original security settings - if the file security settings were preserved
during backup, you can choose whether to recover them or let the files inherit the security
settings of the folder where they will be recovered to. This option is effective only whenrecovering files from file/folder backups.

l

Set current date and time for recovered files - you can choose whether to recover the filedate and time from the backup or assign the files the current date and time. By default the filedate and time from the backup will be assigned.

Overwrite file options
Location: Recovery options > Advanced > Overwrite file options
Choose what to do if the program finds a file in the target folder with the same name as in the
backup.
Note
This option is available only while restoring files and folders (not disks and partitions).
Select the Overwrite existing files check box if you want to overwrite the files on the hard disk
with the files from the backup. If the check box is cleared, the more recent files and folders will be
kept on the disk.
If you do not need to overwrite some files:l

Select the Hidden files and folders check box to turn off overwriting of all hidden files andfolders. This option is available for file-level backups to local destinations and network shares.

l

Select the System files and folders check box to turn off overwriting of all system files andfolders. This option is available for file-level backups to local destinations and network shares.

l

Select the More recent files and folders check box to turn off overwriting of new files andfolders.

l

Click Add specific files and folders to manage the list of custom files and folders that you do
not want to overwrite. This option is available for file-level backups to local destinations andnetwork shares.
o

To turn off overwriting of specific files, click the plus sign to create an exclusion criterion.

oWhile specifying the criteria, you can use the common Windows wildcard characters. For
example, to preserve all files with extension .exe, you can add *.exe. Adding My???.exe will
preserve all .exe files with names consisting of five symbols and starting with “my”.

To delete a criterion, select it in the list, and then click the minus sign.

Performance of recovery operation
Location: Recovery options > Advanced > Performance
You can configure the following settings:

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Operation priority
Changing the priority of a backup or recovery process can make it run faster or slower (dependingon whether you raise or lower the priority), but it can also adversely affect the performance of otherrunning programs. The priority of any process running in a system, determines the amount of CPU
usage and system resources allocated to that process. Decreasing the operation priority will free
more resources for other CPU tasks. Increasing backup or recovery priority may speed up theprocess by taking resources from the other currently running processes. The effect will depend on
total CPU usage and other factors.
You can set up the operation priority:l

Low (enabled by default)—The backup or recovery process will run slower, but the performanceof other programs will be increased.

l

Normal—The backup or recovery process will have the equal priority with other processes.

lHigh—The backup or recovery process will run faster, but the performance of other programs
will be reduced. Be aware that selecting this option may result in 100% CPU usage by Acronis
True Image OEM.

Notifications for recovery operation
Location: Recovery options > Notifications
Sometimes a backup or recovery procedure can last an hour or longer. Acronis True Image OEM cannotify you when it is finished via e-mail. The program can also duplicate messages issued during theoperation or send you the full operation log after operation completion.
By default all notifications are disabled.

Free disk space threshold
You may want to be notified when the free space on the recovery storage becomes less than thespecified threshold value. If after starting a backup Acronis True Image OEM finds out that the freespace in the selected backup location is already less than the specified value, the program will not
begin the actual recovery process and will immediately inform you by displaying an appropriate
message. The message offers you three choices - to ignore it and proceed with the recovery, tobrowse for another location for the recovery or to cancel the recovery.
If the free space becomes less than the specified value while the recovery is being run, the program
will display the same message and you will have to make the same decisions.
To set the free disk space thresholdl

Select the Show notification message on insufficient free disk space check box.

l

In the Size box, type or select a threshold value and select a unit of measure.

Acronis True Image OEM can monitor free space on the following storage devices:96© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

lLocal hard driveslUSB cards and driveslNetwork shares (SMB)Note
The message will not be displayed if the Do not show messages and dialogs while processing(silent mode) check box is selected in the Error handling settings.
NoteThis option cannot be enabled for CD/DVD drives.

Email notification
1. Select the Send e-mail notifications about the operation state check box.
2. Configure email settings:lEnter the email address in the To field. You can enter several email addresses in a semicolondelimited format.

lEnter the outgoing mail server (SMTP) in the Server settings field.

l

Set the port of the outgoing mail server. By default the port is set to 25.

l

If required, select the SMTP authentication check box, and then enter the user name andpassword in the corresponding fields.

3. To check whether your settings are correct, click the Send test message button.
If the test message sending fails
1. Click Show extended settings.
2. Configure additional email settings:lEnter the e-mail sender address in the From field. If you are not sure what address to specify,
then type any address you like in a standard format, for example aaa@bbb.com.

lChange the message subject in the Subject field, if necessary.

lSelect the Log on to incoming mail server check box.

lEnter the incoming mail server (POP3) in the POP3 server field.

l

Set the port of the incoming mail server. By default the port is set to 110.

3. Click the Send test message button again.
Additional notification settingsl

To send a notification concerning process completion, select the Send notification upon
operation's successful completion check box.

l

To send a notification concerning process failure, select the Send notification upon operation
failure check box.

l

To send a notification with operation messages, select the Send notification when userinteraction is required check box.

97

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l

To send a notification with full log of operations, select the Add full log to the notification
check box.

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Protection
Note
You can turn the protection on or off in the Acronis True Image OEM UI only. You cannot stop theprocess manually through Task Manager or any other external tool.

The Protection dashboard
To access the Protection dashboard, click Protection on the Acronis True Image OEM sidebar.
On the Overview tab of the dashboard, you can:lView statistics about the active protection status.

lView the number of detected issues, quarantined items, and protection exclusions.

lStop the entire protection for a predefined period of time (30 minutes, 1 hour, 4 hours, until
restart). To do this, click Turn off protection and choose the period.
Note
By turning the protection off, you deactivate Active Protection. Scheduled on-demand scans will
not start.

On the Activity tab of the dashboard, you can view a log of the changes that you applied to yourprotection status and settings.

Active protection
To protect your computer from malicious software in real-time, Acronis True Image OEM uses theAcronis Active Protection technology.
Active Protection constantly checks your computer while you continue working as usual. In addition
to your files, Acronis Active Protection protects the Acronis True Image OEM application files, yourbackups, and the Master Boot Records of your hard drives.

Anti-ransomware protection
Ransomware encrypts files and demands a ransom for the encryption key. Cryptomining malware
performs mathematical calculations in the background, thus stealing the processing power andnetwork traffic of your machine.
When the Anti-ransomware Protection service is on, it monitors in real time the processes
running on your computer. When it detects a third-party process that tries to encrypt your files ormine cryptocurrency, the service informs you about it and asks if you want to allow the process tocontinue or to block the process.

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To allow the process to continue the activity, click Trust. If you are not sure if the process is safe andlegal, we recommend that you click Quarantine. After this, the process will be added to
Quarantine and blocked from any activities.
After blocking a process, we recommend that you check if your files have been encrypted or
corrupted in any way. If they are, click Recover modified files. Acronis True Image OEM will search
the following locations for the latest file versions to recover.
lTemporary file copies that were preliminarily created during the process verificationlLocal backupslCloud backups

If Acronis True Image OEM finds a good temporary copy, the file is restored from that copy. If
temporary file copies are not suitable for restore, Acronis True Image OEM searches for backup
copies locally and in the cloud, compares the creation dates of the copies found in both locations,and restores your file from the latest available non-corrupt copy.
NoteAcronis True Image OEM does not support file recovery from password-protected backups.
To configure Acronis True Image OEM to automatically recover files after blocking a process, selectthe Automatically recover files after blocking a process check box in the Active Protection
settings. See Configuring Active Protection.

Antivirus scans
Antivirus scan is one of the components of Acronis True Image OEM Antivirus and Anti-malware
Protection. It protects your computer by checking for malware on demand – manually or atpredefined intervals that you can configure.
You can select between two types of scans.
lFull scan checks the entire machine for viruses. Full scan will detect malware by examining all
files and processes (or a subset of files and processes), except for excluded files or folders thatyou defined in the excludes lists.

l

Quick scan checks only specific files and folders. Quick scan will detect malware by examining
specific folders which are considered the most likely virus storages.

You can also choose what to scan: archive files, external drives, or only new and changed files.
Note
You can configure Acronis True Image OEM to prevent your computer from entering sleep orhibernate mode if a scan operation is running. Keep in mind that this option is selected by default.
By default, when the CPU load is high, the priority of antivirus scans is decreased to let otherapplications perform properly. This results in slower scans. You can disable this option to speed up
the scanning.

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To view the Scan details report window, containing antivirus scan details, click the Scan reportbutton.

Configuring Antivirus scans
The Antivirus settings
Here you can configure the main Antivirus features. For example, you can choose Action on
detection, define Scan type, set Schedule, choose what to scan, and so on.
To access the Antivirus settings, click Protection on the side bar, then click Settings, and go to the
Antivirus tab.
To configure Action on detection:
Select the options that you want to enable.
lQuarantine —This option is set by default. When Acronis True Image OEM detects a potential
malware threat, it stops the process and moves the suspicious file to the quarantine folder.

lNotify only —When a suspicious process is detected, you will get a notification about thepotential malware threat.

To configure scan type:
Select the type of scan you want to perform:lFull—This option is set by default. Acronis True Image OEM will check the entire PC.

lQuick— Acronis True Image OEM will check only the specific folders that are considered the most
likely storages of threats.

To schedule antivirus scans:
Select one of the check boxes to configure the time when the scanning process shall start.
l

Daily—the scan will be run every day at a specified time.

lWeekly—the scan will be run on a specified day of week. Set the day of week and time.

lMonthly—the scan will be run on a specified day of month.

l

At system startup—the scan will be run at each start of your operating system.

l

Do not schedule—the scan run is not planned for a specific time.

To configure what to scan:
Select the following check boxes:l

Do not scan archive files larger than. Select a value by using the arrows.

lScan external driveslScan network shares and NASlScan only new and changed files

To configure system behavior during Antivirus scans:

101© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Sometimes, the system might be shut down before the Antivirus scan is completed. For such cases,
select the Run missed tasks at the startup check box to configure Acronis True Image OEM toresume the scan when the system starts again by selecting.
Moreover, you can enable the Prevent the sleep or hibernate mode option to prevent yourcomputer from shutting down if a scan operation is running.
The priority of antivirus scans can be decreased in case of a CPU overload to let other applications
perform properly. This option is enabled by default which might slow down the scanning. To speed
up the scans, clear the Give priority to other applications check box.
After configuring the Antivirus scans, click OK .

Managing files in Quarantine
Based on your settings, Active protection and Antivirus scans can move blocked files to quarantine.
Quarantine is a special storage that is used to isolate infected and suspected files from yourcomputer and data. When you place an application file in quarantine, the risk of potential harmful
actions from the blocked application is minimized.
By default, files are kept for 30 days in quarantine and then deleted from your PC. You can review
the files in quarantine and decide whether to keep or delete them before that period expires. You
can also change the default period to keep files in quarantine.
To restore or delete files from quarantine:
1. On the Protection dashboard, click Quarantine.
2. In the Quarantine list, select an item.
l

To return the item to its original location, click Restore.

l

To delete and item, click Delete from PC.

3. Click Close.
To setup the period for automatic deletion of files from the quarantine:
1. On the Protection dashboard, click Settings, and click the Advanced tab.
2. In the Quarantine section, select the number of days to keep the quarantined items.
3. Click OK.

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Disk cloning and migration
This operation copies the entire contents of one disk drive to another disk drive. This may benecessary, for example, when you want to clone your operating system, applications, and data to anew, larger capacity disk. You can do it two ways:l

Use the Clone disk utility.

lBack up your old disk drive, and then recover it to the new one.

See Also: Difference between Backup and Disk Clone

Disk cloning utility
The Clone disk utility allows you to clone your hard disk drive by copying the partitions to anotherhard disk.
Before you start:l

When you want to clone your system to a higher-capacity hard disk, we recommend that you
install the target (new) drive where you plan to use it and the source drive in another location,e.g. in an external USB enclosure. This is especially important for laptops.
Note
It is recommended that your old and new hard drives work in the same controller mode (forexample, IDE or AHCI). Otherwise, your computer might not start from the new hard drive.
Note
If you clone a disk with Windows to an external USB hard drive, you might not be able to bootfrom it. We recommend cloning to an internal SSD or HDD instead.

l

The Clone disk utility does not support multiboot systems.

l

On program screens, damaged partitions are marked with a red circle and a white cross inside in
the upper left corner. Before you start cloning, you should check such disks for errors and correct
the errors by using the appropriate operating system tools.

l

We strongly recommend that you create a backup of the entire original disk as a safety
precaution. It could be your data saver if something goes wrong with your original hard diskduring cloning. For information on how to create such a backup, see Backing up partitions anddisks. After creating the backup, make sure that you validate it.

Clone Disk wizard
Before you start, we recommend that you read general information about Disk cloning utility.If you
use an UEFI computer and you decided to start the cloning procedure under bootable media, pay
attention to the boot mode of the bootable media in UEFI BIOS. It is recommended that the bootmode matches the type of the system in the backup. If the backup contains a BIOS system, thenboot the bootable media in BIOS mode; if the system is UEFI, then ensure that UEFI mode is set.

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To clone a disk
1. Start Acronis True Image OEM.
2. On the sidebar, click Tools, and then click Clone disk.
3. On the Clone Mode step, choose a transfer mode.
lAutomatic—Recommended in most cases.

lManual—Manual mode will provide more data transfer flexibility. Manual mode can be useful
if you need to change the disk partition layout.

Note
If the program finds two disks, one partitioned and another unpartitioned, it will automaticallyrecognize the partitioned disk as the source disk and the unpartitioned disk as the destination
disk. In such case, the next steps will be bypassed and you will be taken to the Summary screen.
4. On the Source Disk step, select the disk that you want to clone.
Note
Acronis True Image OEM does not support cloning of dynamic disks.
5. On the Destination Disk step, select the destination disk for the cloned data.
If the selected destination disk contains partitions, you will need to confirm deletion of thepartitions. Note that the real data destruction will be performed only when you click Proceed on
the last step of the wizard.
Note
If any disk is unpartitioned, the program will automatically recognize it as the destination andbypass this step.
6. [This step is only available if the source disk has an OS installed]. On the Disk Usage step, selecthow you are going to use the clone.
l

To replace a disk on this machine—the system disk data will be copied, and the clone will
be bootable. Use this clone for replacing the system disk with a new one on this PC.

l

To use on another machine—the system disk data will be copied, and the clone will bebootable. Use this clone to transfer all the data to another PC on a bootable disk.

l

To use as a data disk—the disk data will be copied. Use this clone as a non-bootable data
drive.

7. [This step is only available in the manual cloning mode]. On the Move method step, choose adata move method.
l

As is—a new partition will be created for every old one with the same size and type, filesystem and label. The unused space will become unallocated.

lProportional—the new disk space will be proportionally distributed between cloned
partitions.

l104

Manual—you will specify a new size and other parameters yourself.

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8. [This step is only available in the manual cloning mode]. On the Change disk layout step, you
can edit settings of the partitions that will be created on the destination disk. Refer to Manual
partitioning for details.
9. [Optional step] On the What to exclude step, you can specify files and folders that you do notwant to clone. Refer to Excluding items from cloning for details.
10. On the Finish step, ensure that the configured settings suit your needs, and then click Proceed.
If the cloning operation is stopped for some reason, you will have to configure and start theprocedure again. You will not lose your data, because Acronis True Image OEM does not alter theoriginal disk and data stored on it during cloning.
By default, Acronis True Image OEM shuts down the computer after the clone process finishes. This
enables you to change the position of master/subordinate jumpers and remove one of the hard
drives.

Manual partitioning
The manual transfer method enables you to resize partitions on the new disk. By default, theprogram resizes them proportionally.

To edit a partition105© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

1. Select the partition, and then click Edit. This will open the Partition Settings window.

2. Specify the following settings for the partition:lSize and positionlFile systemlPartition type (available only for MBR disks)lPartition letter and label

Refer to Partition settings for details.
3. Click Accept.
Warning!
Clicking any previous wizard step on the sidebar in this window will reset all size and location
changes that you've selected, so you will have to specify them again.

Excluding items from cloning
If you do not want to clone specific files from a source disk (for example, when your target disk issmaller than the source one), you can opt to exclude them in the What to exclude step.
Note
We do not recommend excluding hidden and system files when cloning your system partition.

106© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

You have two ways to exclude files and folders:lExclude by files and folders - this tab allows you to select specific files and folders from thefolder tree.

l

Exclude by masks - this tab allows you to exclude a group of files by mask or an individual file byname or path.
To add an exclusion criterion, click Add, type a file name, a path or a mask, and then click OK. You
can add as many files and masks as you like.

Examples of exclusion criteria:ll

You can enter explicit file names:ofile.ext - all such files will be excluded from cloning.

oC:\file.ext - the file.ext file on the C: disk will be excluded.

You can use wildcard characters (* and ?):o*.ext - all files with a .ext extension will be excluded.

o??name.ext - all files with a .ext extension, having six letters in their names (starting with any
two symbols (??) and ending with name), will be excluded.

l

You can enter path to a folder:o

C:\my pictures - my pictures folder on the C: disk will be excluded.

You can edit and remove exclusion criteria using the corresponding buttons on the right pane.

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Migrating your system from an HDD to an SSD
First of all, make sure that Acronis True Image OEM detects your new SSD both in Windows andunder the Acronis bootable media. If there is a problem, see What to do if Acronis True Image OEMdoes not recognize your SSD.

SSD size
As SSDs usually have less capacity than HDDs, the occupied space on your old hard disk may exceed
the size of your SSD. If this is the case, migration is not possible.
To reduce amount of data on your system disk, try the following:lMove your data files from the old hard disk to another location, such as another hard disk drive,internal or external.

lCreate .zip archives of data files (for example, your documents, pictures, audio files, etc.), andthen delete the original files.

l

Clean up the hard disk using the Windows Disk Cleanup utility.

Note that for stable operation, Windows needs to have several GB of free space on the system
partition.

Which migration method to choose
If your system disk consists of a single partition (not counting the hidden System Reserved
partition), you can try to migrate to the SSD using the Clone tool. For more information see Cloning
a hard disk.
However, we recommend to use the backup and recovery method in most cases. This method
provides more flexibility and control over migration. See Migrating to an SSD using the backup andrecovery method.

What to do if Acronis True Image OEM does not recognize your SSD
Sometimes Acronis True Image OEM may not recognize an SSD.
In such a case, check whether the SSD is recognized in BIOS.
If the BIOS of your computer does not show the SSD, verify that the power and data cables areproperly connected. You may also try to update the BIOS and SATA drivers. If these suggestions do
not help, contact the Support team of your SSD manufacturer.
If the BIOS of your computer does show the SSD
1. Depending on your operating system, type cmd in the Search field or in the Run field, and thenpress Enter.
2. At the command line prompt type, enter:108© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

diskpart
list disk
The screen will show the disks connected to your computer. Find out the disk number for your
SSD. Use its size as the reference.
3. To select the disk, run the following command:
select disk N
Here N is the disk number of your SSD.
4. To remove all information from the SSD and overwrite the MBR with the default one, run thecommand:
clean
exit
exit
Start Acronis True Image OEM and check whether it detects the SSD. If it detects the SSD, use theAdd new disk tool to create a single partition on the disk occupying the entire disk space. Whencreating a partition, check that the free space before partition is 1 MB. For more information, see
Adding a new hard disk.
To check whether your Acronis bootable media recognizes the SSD
1. Boot from the Acronis bootable media.
2. Select Tools & Utilities -> Add New Disk in the main menu and the Disk selection screen willshow the information about all hard disks in your system. Use this for checking whether the SSD
is detected in the recovery environment.
3. If the screen shows your SSD, just click Cancel.
If the bootable media does not recognize the SSD and the SSD controller mode is AHCI, you can try
to change the mode to IDE (or ATA in some BIOS brands) and see whether this solves the problem.
Warning!
Attention! Do not start Windows after changing the mode; it may result in serious system problems.
You must return the mode to AHCI before starting Windows.
If after changing the mode the bootable media detects the SSD, you may use the following
procedure for recovery or cloning under bootable media:
1. Shut down the computer.
2. Boot to BIOS, change the mode from AHCI to IDE (or ATA in some BIOS brands).
3. Boot from Acronis bootable media.
4. Recover or clone the disk.
5. Boot to BIOS and change IDE back to AHCI.
6. Start Windows.

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What to do if the above suggestions do not help
You can try to create a WinPE-based media. This may provide the necessary drivers. For more
information, see Creating Acronis bootable media.

Migrating to SSD using the backup and recovery method
You can use the following procedure for all supported operating systems. First, let's consider asimple case: your system disk consists of a single partition. Note that for Windows 7 and later, thesystem disk may have a hidden System Reserved partition.
We recommend that you migrate your system to an empty SSD that does not contain partitions (thedisk space is unallocated). Note that if your SSD is new and has never been used before, it does notcontain partitions.
To migrate your system to an SSD
1. Start Acronis True Image OEM.
2. Create Acronis bootable media, if you do not have it yet. To do this, in the Tools section, click
Create bootable media and follow the instructions on the screen.
3. Back up your entire system drive (in the disk backup mode) to a hard disk other than yoursystem hard disk and the SSD.
4. Switch off the computer and remove your system hard disk.
5. Mount the SSD into the slot where the hard disk was.
Note
For some SSD brands you may need to insert the SSD into a PCI Express slot.
6. Boot from your Acronis bootable media.
7. Validate the backup to make sure that it can be used for recovery. To do this, click Recovery on
the left pane and select the backup. Right-click, select Validate Archive in the shortcut menu
and then click Proceed.
8. After the validation finishes, right-click the backup and select Recover in the shortcut menu.
9. Choose Recover whole disks and partitions at the Recovery method step and then click Next.
10. Select the system disk at the What to recover step.
11. Click New location and then select the SSD as the new location for your system disk, then click
Accept.
12. At the next step click Proceed to start recovery.
13. After the recovery is complete, exit the standalone version of Acronis True Image OEM.
14. Try to boot from the SSD and then make sure that Windows and applications work correctly.
If your system hard disk also contains a hidden recovery or diagnostic partition, as is quite often thecase with notebooks, the procedure will differ. You will usually need to resize the partitions
manually during recovery to the SSD. For instructions see Recovering a disk with a hidden partition.

110© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

ToolsAcronis Tools and utilities include protection tools, mounting tools, clone disk utility, security andprivacy utilities, and disk management utilities.
Protection toolsl"Acronis Media Builder" (p. 111)

Disk cloningl"Disk cloning utility" (p. 103)

Image mountingl"Mounting an image" (p. 142)l"Unmounting an image" (p. 143)

Acronis Media Builder
Acronis Media Builder allows you to make a USB flash drive, external drive, or a blank CD/DVD
bootable. In case Windows cannot start, use the bootable media to run a standalone version ofAcronis True Image OEM and recover your computer.
You can create several types of bootable media:l

Acronis bootable media
This type is recommended for most users.

l

WinPE-based media with the Acronis plug-in
Running Acronis True Image OEM in the preinstallation environment may provide better
compatibility with your computer’s hardware because the preinstallation environment uses
Windows drivers.
We recommend that you create this type of media, when Acronis bootable media did not help
you boot your computer.
To use this option, you need one of the following components to be installed:oWindows Automated Installation Kit (AIK).
This component is required for creating WinPE 3.0.

oWindows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK).
This component is required for creating WinPE 4.0, WinPE 5.0, and WinPE 10.0.

l

WinRE-based media with the Acronis plug-in
This type of bootable media is similar to WinPE-based media, but it has an important
advantage—you do not need to download WADK or WAIK from the Microsoft website. Windows
Recovery Environment is already included in Windows Vista and later versions of Windows.
Acronis True Image OEM uses these files from your system to create WinRE-based media. Similar
to WinPE-based media, you can add your drivers for better compatibility with your hardware.

111© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

However, WinRE-based media can be used only on the computer where it was created or on acomputer with the same operating system.
Notesl

We recommend that you create a new bootable media after each Acronis True Image OEM
update.

l

If you use non-optical media, the media must have a FAT16 or FAT32 file system.

l

Acronis Media Builder supports only x64 WinPE 3.0, WinPE 4.0, WinPE 5.0, and WinPE 10.0.

lYour computer must have:lo

For WinPE 3.0—at least 256 MB RAMo

For WinPE 4.0—at least 512 MB RAMo

For WinPE 5.0—at least 1 GB RAMo

For WinPE 10.0—at least 512 MB RAM

If Acronis Media Builder does not recognize your USB flash drive, you can try using the proceduredescribed in the Acronis Knowledge Base article at https://kb.acronis.com/content/1526.

lWhen booting from the bootable media, you cannot perform backups to disks or partitions with
Ext2/Ext3/Ext4, ReiserFS, and Linux SWAP file systems.

lWhen booting from the bootable media and using a standalone version of Acronis True Image
OEM, you cannot recover files and folders encrypted with the encryption available in Windows XP
and later operating systems. For more information, see File-level security settings for backup.
However, backups encrypted using the Acronis True Image OEM encryption feature can berecovered.

l

If you decide to create a bootable media on a drive that already has a Survival Kit, Acronis Media
Builder will attempt to overwrite and update only the hidden partition with the bootable media
without formatting the whole drive.

Creating Acronis bootable media
1. Plug in a USB flash drive, or an external drive (HDD/SSD), or insert a blank CD or DVD.
2. Start Acronis True Image OEM.
3. In the Tools section, click Bootable Rescue Media Builder.
4. Choose a creation method.
lSimple—This is the easiest option. Acronis True Image OEM will choose the optimal media
type for your computer. If you use Windows 7 or a later version, WinRE-based media will becreated.

lAdvanced—This option allows you to choose a media type. This means you can create thebootable media not only for your computer, but for a computer running a different Windows
version. Refer to Acronis Media Builder for details.
If you select a Linux-based media, choose Acronis True Image OEM components to be placedon the media. Ensure that the components that you select are compatible with the target
computer architecture.
If you select a WinRE-based or WinPE-based media, then:112© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

oSelect an architecture type of the media—32-bit or 64-bit. Note that 32-bit bootable media
can work only on 32-bit computers, and 64-bit media is compatible with both 32-bit and 64bit computers.

oSelect a toolkit that you want to be used for creating the bootable media. If you choose
WAIK or WADK and you do not have the selected kit installed on your computer, then you
first need to download it from the Microsoft website, and then install the requiredcomponents—Deployment Tools and Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE).
If you already have WinPE files on your computer and they are stored in a non-default
folder, then just specify their location and the Acronis plug-in will be added to the existing
WinPE image.

o

For better compatibility with your hardware, you can select drivers to be added to themedia.

5. Select a destination for the media:
l

CD

l

DVD

l

External drivel

USB flash drive
If your drive has an unsupported file system, Acronis True Image OEM will suggest formatting
it to FAT file system.
Warning!
Formatting permanently erases all data on a disk.

l

ISO image file
You will need to specify the .iso file name and the destination folder.
When the .iso file is created, you can burn it onto a CD or DVD. For example, in Windows 7 andlater, you can do this by using a built-in burning tool. In File Explorer, double-click the created
ISO image file, and then click Burn.

l

WIM image file (available only for WinPE-based media)
Acronis True Image OEM adds the Acronis plug-in to the .wim file from Windows AIK or
Windows ADK. You will need to specify a name for the new .wim file and the destination
folder.
To create a bootable media by using a .wim file, you first need to convert it to an .iso file. Refer
to Creating an .iso file from a .wim file for details.
Note
If Acronis Media Builder detects a previously created Survival Kit on this drive, it will attempt
to overwrite and update only the hidden partition with the bootable media without
formatting the whole drive.

6. Click Proceed.

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Acronis bootable media startup parameters
Here, you can set Acronis bootable media startup parameters in order to configure the media bootoptions for better compatibility with different hardware. Several options are available (nousb,
nomouse, noapic, etc.). These parameters are provided for advanced users. If you encounter any
hardware compatibility problems while testing boot from the media, it may be best to contact theSupport team.
To add startup parameters
1. Enter a command into the Parameters field. You can type several commands, separated by
spaces.
2. Click Next to continue.
Additional parameters that can be applied prior to booting Linux kernel

Description
The following parameters can be used to load Linux kernel in a special mode:l

acpi=off

Disables ACPI and may help with a particular hardware configuration.
lnoapicDisables APIC (Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller) and may help with a particular
hardware configuration.
l

nousb

Disables loading of USB modules.
lnousb2Disables USB 2.0 support. USB 1.1 devices still work with this option. This option allows using someUSB drives in USB 1.1 mode, if they do not work in USB 2.0 mode.
l

quiet

This parameter is enabled by default and the startup messages are not displayed. Deleting it will
result in the startup messages being displayed as the Linux kernel is loaded and the command shell
being offered prior to running the Acronis True Image OEM program.
l

nodma

Disables DMA for all IDE disk drives. Prevents kernel from freezing on some hardware.
lnofw

Disables FireWire (IEEE1394) support.
lnopcmcia

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Disables PCMCIA hardware detection.
lnomouseDisables mouse support.
l[module name]=off

Disables the module (e.g. sata_sis=off).
l

pci=bios

Forces to use PCI BIOS, and not to access the hardware device directly. For instance, this parameter
may be used if the machine has a non-standard PCI host bridge.
lpci=nobios

Disallows use of PCI BIOS; only direct hardware access methods are allowed. For instance, thisparameter may be used if you experience crashes upon boot-up, probably caused by the BIOS.
l

pci=biosirq

Uses PCI BIOS calls to get the interrupt routing table. These calls are known to be buggy on several
machines and they hang the machine when used, but on other computers it is the only way to get
the interrupt routing table. Try this option, if the kernel is unable to allocate IRQs or discoversecondary PCI buses on your motherboard.
lvga=ask

Gets the list of the video modes available for your video card and allows selecting a video mode
most suitable for the video card and monitor. Try this option, if the automatically selected video
mode is unsuitable for your hardware.

Adding drivers to an existing .wim image
Sometimes a basic WinPE disk with Acronis plug-in does not have drivers for your specific hardware,for example, for storage device controllers. The easiest way to add them is to select the Advanced
mode in Acronis Media Builder and specify the drivers to add. You can add the drivers manually to
an existing .wim file before creating an ISO file with Acronis plug-in.
Warning!
Attention! You can only add drivers which have the .inf filename extension.
The following procedure is based on an MSDN article that can be found athttps://technet.microsoft.com/.
To create a custom Windows PE image
1. If you don't have the .wim file with the Acronis plug-in, start Acronis Media Builder and create itby choosing WIM file as a destination for the WinPE-based media. Refer to Creating Acronisbootable media for details.
2. Depending on your version of Windows AIK or Windows ADK, do one of the following:115© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

l

In the Start menu, click Microsoft Windows AIK, right-click Windows PE Tools Command
Prompt, and then select Run as administrator.

l

In the Start menu, click Microsoft Windows AIK, right-click Deployment Tools Command
Prompt, and then select Run as administrator.

l

In the Start menu, click Windows Kits, click Windows ADK, right-click Deployment andImaging Tools Environment, and then select Run as administrator.

3. Run the Copype.cmd script to create a folder with Windows PE files. For example, from acommand prompt, type:copype amd64 C:\winpe_x64
4. Copy your .wim file, for example, to folder C:\winpe_x64\. By default, this file is named
AcronisBootablePEMedia.wim.
5. Mount the base image to a local directory by using the DISM tool. To do this, type:
Dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\winpe_x64\AcronisBootablePEMedia.wim /index:1/MountDir:C:\winpe_x64\mount
6. Add your hardware driver, by using the DISM command with the Add-Driver option. For example,
to add the Mydriver.inf driver located in folder C:\drivers\, type:
Dism /image:C:\winpe_x64\mount /Add-Driver /driver:C:\drivers\mydriver.inf
7. Repeat the previous step for each driver that you need to add.
8. Commit the changes by using the DISM command:
Dism /Unmount-Wim /MountDir:C:\winpe_x64\mount /Commit
9. Create a PE image (.iso file) from the resulting .wim file. Refer to Creating an .iso file from a .wim
file for details.

Creating an .iso file from a .wim file
To create a bootable media by using a .wim file, you need to convert it to an .iso file first.
To create a PE image (.iso file) from the resulting .wim file
1. Depending on your version of Windows AIK or Windows ADK, do one of the following:l

In the Start menu, click Microsoft Windows AIK, right-click Windows PE Tools Command
Prompt, and then select Run as administrator.

l

In the Start menu, click Microsoft Windows AIK, right-click Deployment Tools Command
Prompt, and then select Run as administrator.

l

In the Start menu, click Windows Kits, click Windows ADK, right-click Deployment andImaging Tools Environment, and then select Run as administrator.

2. Run the Copype.cmd script to create a folder with Windows PE files. For example, from acommand prompt, type:116© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

copype amd64 C:\winpe_x64
3. Replace the default boot.wim file in your Windows PE folder with the newly created .wim file (forexample, AcronisBootablePEMedia.wim). If the AcronisBootablePEMedia.wim file is located on
c:\, then:For WinPE 3.0, type:
copy c:\AcronisBootablePEMedia.wim c:\winpe_x64\ISO\sources\boot.wim
For WinPE 4.0, WinPE 5.0 or WinPE 10.0, type:
copy "c:\AcronisBootablePEMedia.wim" c:\winpe_x64\media\sources\boot.wim
4. Use the Oscdimg tool. To create an .iso file, type:oscdimg -n –bc:\winpe_x64\etfsboot.com c:\winpe_x64\ISO c:\winpe_x64\winpe_x64.isoAlternatively, to make the media bootable on both BIOS and UEFI computers, type:oscdimg -m -o -u2 -udfver102 -bootdata:2#p0,e,bc:\winpe_x64\fwfiles\etfsboot.com#pEF,e,bc:\winpe_x64\fwfiles\efisys.bin c:\winpe_x64\media
c:\winpe_x64\winpe_x64.iso
5. Burn the .iso file to a CD by using a third-party tool, and you will have a bootable Windows PE
disc with Acronis True Image OEM.

Making sure that your bootable media can be used
when needed
To maximize the chances of your computer's recovery, you must test that your computer can bootfrom the bootable media. In addition, you must check that the bootable media recognizes all of yourcomputer's devices, such as the hard drives, mouse, keyboard, and network adapter.
To test the bootable media
Note
If you use external drives for storing your backups, you must attach the drives before booting fromthe bootable CD. Otherwise, the program might not detect them.
1. Configure your computer to enable booting from the bootable media. Then, make your bootable
media device (CD-ROM/DVD-ROM or USB drive) the first boot device. Refer to Arranging bootorder in BIOS for details.
2. If you have a bootable CD, press any key to start booting from the CD, when you see the "Press
any key to boot from CD" prompt. If you do not press a key within five seconds, you will need torestart the computer.
3. After the boot menu appears, choose Acronis True Image OEM.

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Note
If your wireless mouse does not work, try replacing it with a wired one. The same
recommendation applies to the keyboard.
Note
If you do not have a spare mouse or keyboard, contact the Acronis Support team. They will build
a custom bootable CD that will have drivers for the models of your mouse and keyboard. Be
aware that finding the appropriate drivers and making the custom bootable CD may take sometime. Furthermore, this may be impossible for some models.
4. When the program starts, we recommend that you try recovering some files from your backup. A
test recovery allows you to make sure that your bootable CD can be used for recovery. In
addition, you can make sure that the program detects all of the hard drives you have in yoursystem.
Note
If you have a spare hard drive, we strongly recommend that you try a test recovery of yoursystem partition to this hard drive.
To test recovery, as well as check the drives and network adapter

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1. Select a backup at the Archive location step, and then click Next.

2. When recovering files with the bootable CD, you are able to select only a new location for thefiles to be recovered. Therefore, just click Next at the Location selection step.
3. After the Destination window opens, check that all of your drives are shown under My
Computer.
Note
If you store your backups on the network, verify that you can access the network.
Note
If no computers are visible on the network, but the Computers Near Me icon is found underMy Computer, specify the network settings manually. To do this, open the window available atTools & Utilities > Options > Network adapters.
Note
If the Computers Near Me icon is not available under My Computer, there may be problems
either with your network card or with the card driver provided with Acronis True Image OEM.

119

© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

4. Select the destination for the files, and then click Next.
5. Select several files for recovery by selecting their check boxes and then click Next.

120© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

6. Click Proceed on the Summary window to start recovery.
7. After the recovery finishes, exit the standalone Acronis True Image OEM.
Now, you can be reasonably sure that your bootable CD will help you when you need it.

Selecting video mode when booting from the bootable media
When booting from the bootable media the optimal video mode is selected automaticallydepending on the specifications of your video card and monitor. However, sometimes the program
can select the wrong video mode, which is unsuitable for your hardware. In such case you can selecta suitable video mode as follows:
1. Start booting from the bootable media. When the boot menu appears, hover the mouse overAcronis True Image OEM item and press the F11 key.
2. When the command line appears, type vga=ask and click OK.
3. Select Acronis True Image OEM in the boot menu to continue booting from the bootable
media. To see the available video modes, press the Enter key when the appropriate message
appears.
4. Choose a video mode you think best suitable for your monitor and type its number in thecommand line. For instance, typing 338 selects video mode 1600x1200x16 (see the below figure).

121© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

5. Wait until Acronis True Image OEM starts and make sure that the quality of the Welcome screen
display on your monitor suits you.
To test another video mode, close Acronis True Image OEM and repeat the above procedure.
After you find the optimal video mode for your hardware, you can create a new bootable media thatwill automatically select that video mode.
To do this, start Acronis Media Builder, select the required media components, and type the mode
number with the "0x" prefix (0x338 in our instance) in the command line at the Bootable media
startup parameters step, then create the media as usual.

Acronis Startup Recovery Manager
The Acronis Startup Recovery Manager lets you start Acronis True Image OEM without loading theoperating system. With this feature, you can use Acronis True Image OEM by itself to recoverdamaged partitions, even if the operating system won't boot. Unlike booting from Acronis
removable media, you will not need a separate media or network connection to start Acronis True
Image OEM.
Note
Acronis Startup Recovery Manager cannot be used on tablets running Windows.
To activate Acronis Startup Recovery Manager

122© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

1. Start Acronis True Image OEM.
2. In the Tools section, click All tools, and then double-click Activate Acronis Startup Recovery
Manager.
3. In the opened window, click Activate.

If a failure occurs, turn on the computer and press F11 when you see the "Press F11 for AcronisStartup Recovery Manager" message. This will start a standalone version of Acronis True Image OEMthat differs only slightly from the complete version.
To deactivate Acronis Startup Recovery Manager
1. Start Acronis True Image OEM.
2. In the Tools section, click All tools, and then double-click Activate Acronis Startup Recovery
Manager.
3. In the opened window, click Deactivate.

Additional information
Disk letters in standalone Acronis True Image OEM might sometimes differ from the way Windows
identifies drives. For example, the D: disk identified in the standalone Acronis True Image OEM
might correspond to the E: disk in Windows. The disk labels and information on partition sizes, filesystems, drive capacities, their manufacturers, and model numbers can help in correctly identifying
the disks and partitions.
You won't be able to use the previously activated Acronis Startup Recovery Manager if the
Try&Decide is turned on. Rebooting the computer in the Try mode will allow you to use AcronisStartup Recovery Manager again.
Does Acronis Startup Recovery Manager affect other loaders?
When Acronis Startup Recovery Manager is activated, it overwrites the master boot record (MBR)
with its own boot code. If you have any third-party boot managers installed, you will need to123© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

reactivate them after the Startup Recovery Manager has been activated. For Linux loaders (e.g. LiLoand GRUB), you might consider installing them to a Linux root (or boot) partition boot record
instead of MBR before activating Acronis Startup Recovery Manager.
UEFI boot mechanism is different from the BIOS one. Any OS loader or other boot program has its
own boot variable that defines a path to the corresponding loader. All loaders are stored on a
special partition called EFI System Partition. When you activate Acronis Startup Recovery Manager in
UEFI-booted system, it changes the boot sequence by writing its own boot variable. This variable isadded to the list of variables and does not change them. Since all loaders are independent and do
not affect each other, there is no need to change anything before or after activating Acronis Startup
Recovery Manager.

Adding a new hard disk
If you do not have enough space for your data, you can either replace the old disk with a newhigher-capacity one, or add a new disk only to store data, leaving the system on the old disk.
To add a new hard disk
1. Shut down your computer, and then install the new disk.
2. Turn on your computer.
3. Click the Start button > Acronis (product folder) > Add New Disk.
4. Follow the wizard steps.
5. On the Finish step, ensure that the configured disk layout suits your needs, and then click
Proceed.

Selecting a hard disk
Select the disk that you have added to the computer. If you have added several disks, select one ofthem and click Next to continue. You can add the other disks later by restarting the Add New Disk
Wizard.
Note
If there are any partitions on the new disk, Acronis True Image OEM will warn you that thesepartitions will be deleted.

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Selecting initialization method
Acronis True Image OEM supports both MBR and GPT partitioning. GUID Partition Table (GPT) is a
new hard disk partitioning method providing advantages over the old MBR partitioning method. If
your operating system supports GPT disks, you can select the new disk to be initialized as a GPT
disk.

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© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

l

To add a GPT disk, click Initialize disk in GPT layout.

l

To add an MBR disk, click Initialize disk in MBR layout.

After selecting the required initialization method click Next.

Creating new partitions
To use the space on a hard disk, it must be partitioned. Partitioning is the process of dividing thehard disk's space into logical divisions which are called partitions. Each partition may function as aseparate disk with an assigned drive letter, its own file system, etc.
To create a new partition
1. On the Partition creation step of the wizard, select the unallocated space, and then click Create
new partition.
2. Specify the following settings for the partition being created:lSize and positionlFile systemlPartition type (available only for MBR disks)lPartition letter and label

Refer to Partition settings for details.
3. Click Accept.

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Partition settings
Size
To resize the partition, do one of the followinglPoint to the partition border. When the pointer becomes a double-headed arrow, drag thepointer to enlarge or reduce the partition size.

lType the desired partition size in the Partition Size field.

To relocate the partition, perform one of the followinglDrag the partition to a new position.

lType the desired size in either the Free space before or Free space after field.

Note
When you create partitions, the program may reserve some unallocated space for system needs infront of the created partitions.

File System
You can either leave the partition unformatted, or choose between the following file system types:127© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

l

NTFS is a native file system for Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and later operating
systems. Choose it if you use these operating systems. Note, that Windows 95/98/Me and DOS
cannot access NTFS partitions.

l

FAT 32 is an improved 32-bit version of the FAT file system that supports volumes up to 2 TB.

l

FAT 16 is a DOS native file system. Most operating systems recognize it. However, if your disk
drive is more than 4 GB, it is not possible to format it in FAT16.

l

Ext2 is a Linux native file system. It is fast enough, but it is not a journaling file system.

lExt3 – officially introduced with Red hat Linux version 7.2, Ext3 is a Linux journaling file system. It
is forwards and backwards compatible with Linux Ext2. It has multiple journaling modes, as wellas broad, cross platform compatibility in both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures.

l

Ext4 is a new Linux file system. It has improvements in comparison to ext3. It is fully backward
compatible with ext2 and ext 3. However, ext3 has only partial forward compatibility with ext4.

lReiserFS is a journaling file system for Linux. Generally it is more reliable and faster than Ext2.
Choose it for your Linux data partition.

lLinux Swap is a swap partition for Linux. Choose it if you want to add more swap space using
Linux.

Partition letter
Select a letter to be assigned to the partition. If you select Auto, the program assigns the firstunused drive letter in alphabetical order.

Partition label
Partition label is a name, assigned to a partition so that you can easily recognize it. For example, apartition with an operating system could be called System, a data partition — Data, etc. Partition
label is an optional attribute.

Partition type (these settings are available only for MBR disks)
You can define the new partition as primary or logical.
lPrimary - choose this parameter if you are planning to boot from this partition. Otherwise, it isbetter to create a new partition as a logical drive. You can have only four primary partitions per
drive, or three primary partitions and one extended partition.
Note
If you have several primary partitions, only one will be active at a time, the other primarypartitions will be hidden and won’t be seen by the OS.
oMark the partition as active - select this check box if you are planning to install an operating
system on this partition.

l

Logical - choose this parameter if you don’t intend to install and start an operating system fromthe partition. A logical drive is part of a physical disk drive that has been partitioned and allocatedas an independent unit, but functions as a separate drive.

128© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Security and Privacy Tools
Acronis DriveCleanser
Acronis DriveCleanser allows you to permanently destroy all data on selected hard disks andpartitions. For the destruction, you can use one of the preset algorithms or create your own. Refer
to Algorithm selection for details.

Why do I need it?
When you format your old hard drive before throwing it away, the information is not destroyed
permanently and it can still be retrieved. This is a way that your personal information can end up in
the wrong hands. To prevent this, we recommend that you use Acronis DriveCleanser when you:l

Replace your old hard drive with a new one and do not plan to use the old drive any more.

lGive your old hard drive to your relative or friend.

lSell your old hard drive.

How to use Acronis DriveCleanser
To permanently destroy data on your disk
1. Click the Start button > Acronis (product folder) > Acronis DriveCleanser.
The Acronis DriveCleanser wizard opens.
2. On the Source selection step, select the disks and partitions that you want to wipe. Refer to
Source selection for details.
3. On the Algorithm selection step, select an algorithm that you want to use for the data
destruction. Refer to Algorithm selection for details.
4. [optional step] You can create your own algorithm. Refer to Creating custom algorithm fordetails.
5. [optional step] On the Post-wiping actions step, choose what to do with the partitions and disk
when the data destruction is complete. Refer to Post-wiping actions for details.
6. On the Finish step, ensure that the configured settings are correct. To start the process, selectthe Wipe the selected partitions irreversibly check box, and then click Proceed.
Warning!
Be aware that, depending on the total size of selected partitions and the selected data destruction
algorithm, the data destruction may take many hours.

Source selection
On the Source selection step, select partitions and disks where you want to destroy data:129© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

l

To select partitions, click the corresponding rectangles. The red mark () indicates that thepartition is selected.
l

To select an entire hard disk, click the disk icon (

).

Note
Acronis DriveCleanser cannot wipe partitions on dynamic and GPT disks, so they will not be shown.

Algorithm selection
On the Algorithm selection step, perform one of the following:l

To use one of the preset algorithms, select the desired algorithm. Refer to Hard Disk Wiping
Methods for details.

l[For advanced users only] To create a custom algorithm, select Custom. Then continue creatingon the Algorithm definition step. Afterwards, you will be able to save the created algorithm to a
file with *.alg extension.

l

To use a previously saved custom algorithm, select Load from file and select the file containing
your algorithm.

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Hard Disk Wiping methods
Information removed from a hard disk drive by non-secure means (for example, by simple Windows
delete) can easily be recovered. Utilizing specialized equipment, it is possible to recover evenrepeatedly overwritten information.
Data is stored on a hard disk as a binary sequence of 1 and 0 (ones and zeros), represented bydifferently magnetized parts of a disk. Generally speaking, a 1 written to a hard disk is read as 1 byits controller, and 0 is read as 0. However, if you write 1 over 0, the result is conditionally 0.95 andvice versa – if 1 is written over 1 the result is 1.05. These differences are irrelevant for the controller.
However, using special equipment, one can easily read the «underlying» sequence of 1's and 0's.
Information wiping methods
The detailed theory of guaranteed information wiping is described in an article by Peter Gutmann.
See "Secure Deletion of Data from Magnetic and Solid-State Memory" at
https://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/secure_del.html.
No.

Algorithm

PassesRecord(writing
method)1.

United States

4

1 pass – randomly selected symbols to each byte of each sector, 2

Department of– complementary to written during the first pass; 3 – random

Defensesymbols again; 4 – writing verification.

5220.22-M

131© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

No.

Algorithm

PassesRecord(writing
method)2.

United States:

4

NAVSO P-5239-

1 pass – 0x01 to all sectors, 2 – 0x27FFFFFF, 3 – random symbol
sequences, 4 – verification.

26 (RLL)
3.

United States:

4

NAVSO P-5239-

1 pass – 0x01 to all sectors, 2 – 0x7FFFFFFF, 3 – random symbol
sequences, 4 – verification.

26 (MFM)
4.

German: VSITR

7

Passes 1 – 6 – alternate sequences of: 0x00 and 0xFF; pass 7 –0xAA; i.e. 0x00, 0xFF, 0x00, 0xFF, 0x00, 0xFF, 0xAA.

5.

Russian: GOST

1

P50739-95

Logical zeros (0x00 numbers) to each byte of each sector for thesixth to fourth security level systems.
Randomly selected symbols (numbers) to each byte of each sector
for the third to first security level systems.

6.

Peter Gutmann's

35

methodPeter Gutmann's method is very sophisticated. It's based on his
theory of hard disk information wiping (see Secure Deletion of
Data from Magnetic and Solid-State Memory).

7.

Bruce Schneier's

7methodBruce Schneier offers a seven-pass overwriting method in his
Applied Cryptography book. 1 pass – 0xFF, 2 – 0x00, and then fivetimes with a cryptographically secure pseudo-random sequence.

8.

Fast

1

Logical zeros (0x00 numbers) to all sectors to wipe.

Creating custom algorithms
Algorithm definition
The Algorithm definition step shows you a template of the future algorithm.
The table has the following legend:l

The first column contains the type of operation (to write a symbol to disk; and to verify written).

l

The second column contains the pattern of data to be written to disk.

Each line defines an operation that will be performed during a pass. To create your algorithm, add
as many lines to the table that you think will be enough for secure data destruction.
To add a new pass132

© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

1. Click Add. The Wiping Pass Adjustment window opens.

2. Choose an option:l

Write patternEnter a hexadecimal value, for example, a value of this kind: 0x00, 0xAA, or 0xCD, etc. These
values are 1 byte long, but they may be up to 512 bytes long. Except for such values, you may
enter a random hexadecimal value of any length (up to 512 bytes).
Note
If the binary value is represented by the 10001010 (0x8A) sequence, then the complementarybinary value will be represented by the 01110101 (0x75) sequence.

l

Write a random number
Specify the length of the random value in bytes.

lWrite complementary to previous pass pattern
Acronis True Image OEM adds a complementary value to the one written to disk during theprevious pass.

lVerifyAcronis True Image OEM verifies the values written to disk during the previous pass.

3. Click OK.
To edit an existing pass
1. Select the corresponding line, and then click Edit.
The Wiping Pass Adjustment window opens.

133© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Note
When you select several lines, the new settings will be applied to all of the selected passes.
2. Change the settings, and then click OK.

Saving algorithm to a file
1. On the Saving custom algorithm step, select Save to a file, and then click Next.
2. In the window that opens, specify the file name and location, and then click OK.

Post-wiping actions
In the Post-wiping actions window, you can select actions to be performed on the partitions selected
for data destruction. Acronis DriveCleanser offers you three options:l

No action — just destroy data using the algorithm selected belowlDelete partition — destroy data and delete partitionlFormat — destroy data and format partition (default).

System Clean-up
The System Clean-up wizard enables you to securely remove all traces of your PC actions, including
user names, passwords, and other personal information.
It can carry out the following operations:134© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

lSecurely destroy data in the Windows Recycle Bin.

lRemove temporary files from appropriate Windows folders.

lClean up hard disk free space of any traces of information previously stored on it.

lRemove traces of file and computer searches on connected disks and computers in the local
area network.

l

Clean the recently used documents list.

lClean the Windows Run list.

lClean the opened/saved files history.

l

Clean the list of network places to which the user has connected using network credentials.

lClean the Windows prefetch directory, where Windows stores information about programs you
have executed and run recently.

Note
Windows 7 and later operating systems do not store information on file and computer searches.
Furthermore, information on opened/saved files is stored differently in the registry, so the wizard
shows this information in a different way.
Note
Windows stores passwords until the session ends, so cleaning the list of network user credentials
will not take effect until you end the current Windows session by logging out or by rebooting thecomputer.
To start the System Clean-up wizard, click the Start button —> Acronis (product folder) —> System
Clean-up.
After you start the wizard, it will search for any traces of user actions stored by Windows. When the
search is finished, its results will be available at the top of the wizard window.

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You can view the search results and manually select the items you wish to remove.
Click the Click here hyperlink text to change the clean-up settings before proceeding.
Click Clean-up to launch removing the found items.

Clean-up settings
In the clean-up settings window you can change the clean-up settings for every system component.
Some of these settings apply to all components.
To change the clean-up settings for a componentlExpand the System Components item in the tree and select the component clean-up settings
which you need to change. You can enable or disable scanning of the component by the Clean-up
wizard. To do this, select or clear the Enable check box.
If required, you can also expand a component and customize the desired data destruction
method, files to clean, clean-up registry search strings you have used for finding computers in thelocal network, etc. To do this, click the triangle near the component, select an option from the list
and specify the settings.

lAfter you set the desired components' properties, click OK to save your settings. These settings
will be used as default next time you launch the Clean-up wizard.

If you have already changed the clean-up settings before, you can always return to the program
defaults by clicking the Restore Defaults button.
System components:l

Recycle BinlTemporary files

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lHard disk free spacelFind Computer listlFind File listlRecently Used Documents listlWindows Run Listl

Opened/saved files historylUser CredentialslWindows Prefetch Directory

Default clean-up options
The default clean-up options are available by clicking the Click to change this setting… link on the
Data Destruction Method option page.
To change the default clean-up options
1. Choose on the tree the component clean-up settings which you need to change.
2. After you change the options, click OK to save your settings.
If you have already changed the clean-up settings before, you can always return to the program
defaults by clicking the Restore Defaults button.

GeneralBy default, the summary dialog window is displayed after each clean-up procedure ends (the Showsummary check box is selected). If you do not need this window to be displayed, uncheck the box.

Clean-up options
System Clean-up utilizes a number of the most popular data destruction methods. Here, you canselect the common data destruction method which will be used by default for all other components.
The data destruction methods are described in detail in Hard Disk Wiping Methods of this guide.

Specific clean-up options
You can customize the following clean-up options:lData destruction methodlDefault options

l

Files

l

Drive free spacelComputerslCommandsl

Network places filter

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Data destruction method
System Clean-up utilizes a number of the most popular data destruction methods. Here, you needto select the desired data destruction method.
l

Use common method - if you leave this parameter selected, the program will use the default
method (the initial setting is Fast method).
If you need another destruction method to be set as a default, click on the corresponding link.

l

Use custom method for this component - selecting this parameter allows you to choose one ofthe preset data destruction methods from the drop-down list.

The data destruction methods are described in detail in Hard Disk Wiping Methods of this guide.

Files
The Files setting defines the names of files to clean with System Clean-up wizard and can be usedwith a search string.

Under the Windows operating system, a search string can represent a full or partial filename. A
search string can contain any alphanumeric symbols, including commas and Windows wildcard
symbols, and can have values similar to the following:138© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

l*.* – to clean all files with any file names and extensions.

l*.doc – to clean all files with a specific extension – Microsoft document files in this case .

lread*.* – to clean all files with any extensions, and names beginning with "read".

lread?.* – to clean all files having five-letter names and any extensions, names beginning with"read"; the fifth letter is random.
The last search string, for example, will result in the removal of read1.txt, ready.doc files, but
readyness.txt will remain with its longer name (excluding the extension)

You can enter several different search strings separated by semicolons; for example:*.bak;*.tmp;*.~~~ (without spaces between the search strings)
All files with names corresponding to at least one of the search strings will be cleaned.
Upon entering the Files setting value, you can browse the files matching the search strings. To dothis, click Show Files. You will see a window with the names of the found files. These files will becleaned.

Drive free space
Here you can manually specify physical and/or logical drives to clean up free space on. By default,
System Clean-up cleans up free space on all available drives.
If you want to change the settings of this parameter, you can use the Remove button to delete fromthe list the drives you don't need to clean free space on.
If you wish to add these drives to the list again, use the Add button.

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Computers
The Computers setting is used for cleaning up the registry search strings you have used for finding
computers in the local network. These strings keep information on what has interested you in the
network. These items should also be deleted to maintain confidentiality.
The Computers setting is similar to the Files setting. It is a string that can contain any number offull or partial computer names separated by semicolons. The deletion of computer search strings isbased on a comparison with the Computers setting value according to Windows rules.
If you simply need to delete all local network computer search strings (suitable in most cases), justleave the default value of this setting. To restore the default settings:lSelect the Find Computer List componentlMake sure the Enable check box is selectedlSelect the Computers setting; make sure its text box is clear.

As a result, all computer search strings will be deleted from the registry.
After entering the Computers setting value, you can browse the search strings found by the System
Clean-up Wizard in the registry. To do so, click Show Computers. You will see the window with fulland partial computer names searched for in the network. These items will be deleted.

140© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Setting commands
Here you can select the commands to remove during Windows Run List clean-up.
This template can contain any command names or their parts separated by semicolons, e.g.:*help; cmd; reg*This will result in removing commands with names corresponding to or containing any of the names
or parts of names you entered.

Network places filter
Here you can enter (separated by semicolons) any hostnames or IP addresses of network places,
servers, FTP servers, network shares, etc. to which you have made connection by supplying network
credentials (a user name and password). While entering hostnames and IP addresses you can use *and ? wildcards.
Click Show network places to view the list of network places that you visited using the credentials
you want to delete.

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Preview
When the scanning is finished, its results will be available in the upper part of the wizard window. By
default, all system components are scanned for clean-up. If you want to customize which of thesystem components should be scanned and which should not, change the default clean-up settings.
You can view the search results and manually select/unselect the items you wish to clean up/keep.
In order to help you with making the right choice, all the components are provided with brief
descriptions. Just click on the component's name and its description will be displayed in the rightside of the window.
To select/unselect a componentlExpand the System Components item in the System Clean-up tree and make sure that thecomponent you wish to clean up is selected. If you do not want to clean up a component, simply
clear its check box.

l

If required, you can dig deeper by expanding a component and selecting/unselecting its contents.

Having specified the components for clean-up, click the Clean-up button to continue.
Note
Windows 7 and later operating systems do not store information on file and computer searches.
Furthermore, information on opened/saved files is stored in the registry differently, so the wizard
shows this information in a different way.

Clean-up progress
The operation status window reports about the state of the current operation.
The progress bar indicates the level of completion of the selected operation.
In some cases, the operation may take a long time to be completed. If this is the case, select the
Shutdown the computer after completion check box. When the operation finishes, Acronis True
Image OEM will turn the computer off.

Mounting an image
Mounting images as virtual drives lets you access them as though they were physical drives. You canmount local backups that contain partitions or entire disk drives, and then select which partitions tomount. After mounting:l

A new disk appears in your system for every mounted partition.

l

You can view the image contents in File Explorer and other file managers in read-only mode.

Note
The operations described in this section are supported only for the FAT and NTFS file systems.

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Note
You cannot mount a disk backup, if it is stored on an FTP server.

How to mount an image
1. In File Explorer, right-click the image file that you want to mount, and then click Mount image.
The Mount wizard opens.
2. Select the backup for mounting by its creation date/time. Thus, you can explore the data state ata certain moment.

3. [optional step] On the Drive letter step, select a letter to be assigned to the virtual disk from theMount letter drop-down list. If you do not want to mount a partition, select Do not mount in
the list or clear the partition's check box.
4. Click Proceed.
5. After the image is connected, the program will run File Explorer, showing its contents.

Unmounting an image
We recommend that you unmount the virtual disk after all necessary operations are finished, as
maintaining virtual disks takes considerable system resources.
To unmount an image

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1. In File Explorer, right-click the disk icon and click Unmount.
2. Restart or shut down your computer.

Working with .vhd(x) files
Acronis backups (.tib files) of disks or partitions can be converted to virtual hard disks (.vhd(x) files).

How to use .vhd(x) filesl

You can boot your computer from the converted .vhd(x) file to test whether the backup is valid
and can be recovered to a bootable operating system.

l

You can keep a converted .vhd(x) file for emergency situations. For example, if your computer
cannot start and you need to run it right away, you can boot from the .vhd(x) file.

l

In Windows 7, you can mount a .vhd(x) file as an additional drive. The .vhd(x) file may contain any
partitions – system or non-system.

l

You can run a converted .vhd(x) file as a virtual machine.

Limitations and additional informationl

A file backup cannot be converted to a .vhd(x) file.

lTo boot from a converted .vhd(x) file, it must contain:oSystem partition of the same computer. You cannot boot other computers using the same .vhd(x) file.

olWindows 7 or later operating system.

Any changes you make to a booted or mounted .vhd(x) file are saved to it. If you boot from a .vhd(x) file and make changes to the data that was not backed up, these changes will affect your live
system.

l

The standalone versions of Acronis True Image OEM that start when booting from the bootable
media do not support conversion operations.

l

Acronis True Image OEM cannot convert .tib files that contain dynamic volumes which wereoriginally located on more than one disk drive (for example, spanned or striped dynamic
volumes).

Converting Acronis backup
Users of the Enterprise and Ultimate editions of Windows 7 and later Windows versions can convert
a .tib image of the system partition into the .vhd(x) format if they want to use the converted .vhd(x)file for booting the operating system. Or, they may want to get the ability to mount images without
using Acronis True Image OEM.
To convert an Acronis disk image (.tib file) to a Windows backup (.vhd(x) file)
1. Start Acronis True Image OEM.
2. Go to the Backup section.

144© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

3. In the backup list, click the down arrow icon next to the backup that you want to convert, andthen click Convert to VHD.
If the backup is password-protected, Acronis True Image OEM will ask for it. Note that theresulting .vhd(x) file will lose password protection.
4. Select the backup version that you want to convert.
Converting an incremental backup requires all the previous incremental backups and the originalfull backup. Converting a differential backup requires the original full backup. The result of
conversion is always a full backup.
5. Specify the path to the file to be created.
The file can be directed to any local storage supported by Acronis True Image OEM (except theAcronis Secure Zone and CD/DVD). In addition, it can be directed to an SMB share.
6. [Optional step] While the backup is being converted, you can select the Start virtual machine
after completion check box. If it is selected, Acronis True Image OEM will restart your computerand run Hyper-V virtual machine by using the created .vhd(x) file.
When a .tib image selected for conversion contains partitions, for example, from two physical harddisk drives, the program will create two .vhd(x) files corresponding to those physical drives.

Importing and exporting backup settings
Acronis True Image OEM allows you to import and export the settings of your backups. This may bedesirable if you need to transfer the settings to a new PC after installing Acronis True Image OEM onthat computer. Saving the settings may also be useful if you later decide to upgrade to the next
Acronis True Image OEM version.
Such transfer will make configuring backups on the new PC much easier. You only need to export
the settings and then import them to the other PC. The settings are exported in the form of script
files.
The settings content can be different depending on a backup type. In case of "classic" disk and file
type backups the settings consist of the following items:llist of items for backuplbackup options

lbackup locationlschedulelbackup schemelautomatic clean-up ruleslbackup version naming rules

The settings of nonstop backup are as follows:llist of items for nonstop protectionlNonstop Backup data storage location (a list of locations, if there are several)145© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Note
You cannot import online backup settings from one computer to another.
To export the backup settings
1. Start Acronis True Image OEM.
2. On the sidebar, click Settings > Backup settings transfer, click Save settings to file, and thenbrowse for the destination to save the script files with the settings.
To import the backup settings
1. Start Acronis True Image OEM on another computer.
2. On the sidebar, click Settings > Backup settings transfer, click Import settings from file, andthen show the path to the script files with the settings.
After importing the settings you may need to change some of them to suit the new environment.
For example, it may be necessary to change the list of items for backup, backup destination, etc.
If you want to copy some of your backups to another computer, it is recommended to export thesettings of those backups too. Thus you will not lose some of the copied backup's functionality.

146© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Troubleshooting
Resolving the most frequent issues
Here is the list of the most frequent issues that users encounter in Acronis True Image OEM. You
can read the corresponding solutions in the Acronis Knowledge Base.
Files and folders are not shown when browsing backups in File Explorer
Error "Plug in external drive"Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) after recovery to new hardware and error "Stop 0x0000007B"
due to missing drivers
See the full list of popular solutions at https://kb.acronis.com/true-image-known-solutions.
See also troubleshooting information about recovery fails at https://kb.acronis.com/content/46340.

Acronis System Report
The Generate system report tool creates a system report that contains all the necessary technicalinformation and allows you to save the information to a file. When it’s necessary, you can attach thecreated file to your problem description and send it to the Support team. This will simplify andspeed up the search for a solution.
To generate a system report, perform one of the followinglOn the sidebar, click Help, and then click Generate system report.

lPress CTRL+F7. Note that you can use this key combination even when Acronis True Image OEMis performing any other operation.

l

If you use Windows 11, click All apps > Acronis > Acronis System Report.

l

If you use Windows 10, in the Start menu, click Acronis > Acronis System Report.

l

If you use Windows 7 or 8, click Start > All Programs > Acronis > Acronis System Report.

After the report is generatedl

To save the generated system report, click Save and in the opened window specify a location forthe created file.

l

To exit to the main program window without saving the report, click Cancel.

You can place the tool on your bootable media as a separate component to generate a system
report when your computer cannot boot. After you boot from the media, you can generate thereport without running Acronis True Image OEM. Simply plug in a USB flash drive and click theAcronis System Report icon. The generated report will be saved on the USB flash drive.
To place the Acronis System Report tool on a bootable media
1. Select the Acronis System Report check box on the Rescue Media Content Selection page of
the Acronis Media Builder wizard.

147© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

2. Click Next to continue.
Creating a system report from the command line prompt
1. Run Windows Command Processor (cmd.exe) as an administrator.
2. Change the current directory to the Acronis True Image OEM installation folder. To do so, enter:cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Acronis\TrueImageHome
3. To create the system report file, enter:
SystemReport
The file SystemReport.zip will be created in the current folder.
If you want to assign a custom name to the report file, type the new name instead of <filename>:
SystemReport.exe /filename:<file name>To generate a system report under bootable media
1. Create Acronis bootable media, if you do not have it. Refer to Acronis Media Builder for details.
2. Arrange the boot order in BIOS so that your bootable media device (CD, DVDs or USB drive) is
the first boot device. Refer to Arranging boot order in BIOS for details.
3. Boot from the Acronis bootable media and select Acronis True Image OEM.
Note
Instead of clicking Acronis True Image OEM, you can plug in a USB flash drive and click Acronis
System Report. In this case, the program generates a report and automatically saves it to the
flash drive.
4. Click the arrow next to the Help icon (), and then select Generate system report.

5. After the report is generated, click Save and in the opened window specify a location for thecreated file.
The program will archive the report into a zip file.

Acronis Smart Error Reporting
When an issue is caused by an error in the program's operation, Acronis True Image OEM displays
an appropriate error message. The error message contains an event code and a short description of
the error.

When you have an Internet connection
To view the Acronis Knowledge Base article suggesting a solution(s) for correcting the error, click the
Knowledge Base button.

148© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

This will open a confirmation window that lists the information to be sent via Internet to the Acronis
Knowledge Base. Click OK to permit sending the information.
If in future you would like to send such information without confirmation, select the Always send
without confirmation check box.

When you do not have an Internet connection
1. In the error message window, click More details and write down the event code. The code may
look like this:
0x000101F6 - example of an ordinary event code.
0x00970007+0x00970016+0x00970002 - example of a composite event code. A code of this kind
may appear when an error occurred in a low-level program module and then propagated tohigher-level modules, resulting in errors in those modules as well.
2. When you establish Internet connection or if you can use another computer where Internet
connection is available, enter the vent code at: https://kb.acronis.com/errorcode/.

How to collect crash dumps
Because a crash of Acronis True Image OEM or Windows can be caused by different reasons, eachcrash case must be investigated separately. Acronis Customer Central would appreciate if you could
provide the following information:
If Acronis True Image OEM crashes, please provide the following information
1. A description of the exact sequence of steps performed before you encountered the issue.
2. A crash dump. For information on how to collect such a dump, see the Acronis Support
Knowledge Base (KB) article at https://kb.acronis.com/content/27931.
If Acronis True Image OEM causes a Windows crash
1. A description of the exact sequence of steps performed before you encountered the issue.
2. A Windows dump file. For information on how to collect such a dump see the Acronis Support KB
article at https://kb.acronis.com/content/17639.
If Acronis True Image OEM hangs
1. A description of the exact sequence of steps performed before you encountered the issue.
2. A userdump of the process. See the Acronis Support KB article athttps://kb.acronis.com/content/6265.
3. The Procmon log. See the Acronis Support KB article at https://kb.acronis.com/content/2295.
If you cannot access the information, contact Acronis Customer Central for an FTP link for uploading
files.
This information will speed up the process of finding a solution.

149© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

GlossaryAmethod for protecting data from software

Acronis Active Protection

eliminates the need for a separate media orAmalfunction, virus attack, operator error

technology

that

protects

data

from

ransomware, malicious software that blocks
access to some files or an entire system anddemands a ransom for unblocking. Based on aheuristic approach, this technology monitors
processes on a computer in real- time mode
and informs the user about attempts to encrypt
data on the computer. In case files are

network connection to back up or recover thedata Limitations: 1) The Acronis Secure Zone
cannot be created on a dynamic disk. 2) The
Acronis Secure Zone is not available as alocationforbackupsintherecoveryenvironment when you start from bootable
media, through Startup Recovery Manager or
BartPE.

encrypted, they can be recovered from thetemporary copies or backups.

Acronis Startup Recovery Manager
A protection tool that allows to start standalone

Acronis Drive
A virtual drive that contains both local andcloud archives. The drive is accessible in File
Explorer under Favorites and provides accessto the archived files, in read-only mode.

Acronis Notary

version of at boot time when F11 is pressed.
Startup Recovery Manager eliminates the needfor bootable media. Startup Recovery Manager
is especially useful for mobile users. If a failure
occurs, the user reboots the machine, hits F11
on prompt "Press F11 for Startup Recovery
Manager…" and performs data recovery in thesame way as with ordinary bootable media.

A technology that allows user to check if a

Limitations: cannot be organized on a dynamic

notarized file was modified since the time it

disk; requires manual configuration of bootwas backed up. Notary calculates a hash codeloaders, such as LILO and GRUB; requires re-based on hash codes of the files selected for

activation of third-party loaders.

notarization, and then sends the hash code to a
Blockchain- based database. The BlockchainB

technology guarantees that the hash code will
not be changed. Therefore, the file authenticity

Backupcan easily be verified by comparing the hash in

The same as Backup operation. A set of backup

the database and the hash of the file that you

versions created and managed by using backup

want to check.

settings. A backup can contain multiple backup
versions created using full and incremental

Acronis Secure Zone
A secure partition for storing backups on ahard disk. Advantages: enables recovery of a

backup methods. Backup versions belonging to
the same backup are usually stored in thesame location.

disk to the same disk where the disk's backup
resides offers a cost- effective and handy

150© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Backup operation

system, to deploy an operating system on baremetal, to create basic or dynamic volumes on

An operation that creates a copy of the databare metal, or to back up sector- by- sector athat exists on a machine's hard disk for the

disk that has an unsupported file system.

purpose of recovering or reverting the data toa specified date and time.

D

Backup settings

Data synchronization

A set of rules configured by a user when

Data synchronization is a process of keeping

creating a new backup. The rules control thedata identical in two or more synchronizedbackup process. Later you can edit the backup

folders. These folders may be located on thesettings to change or optimize the backup

same computer or on different computers

process.

connected via a local network or via theInternet. When you create, copy, modify or

Backup version

delete a file or a subfolder in your sync folder,
the same action is automatically done in the

The result of a single backup operation.

other sync folders. And vice versa - when

Physically, it is a file or a set of files thatsomething changes in the other sync folders,contains a copy of the backed up data as of athe same change is done in your folder.

specific date and time. Backup version of files
created by Acronis True Image OEM have a.tibx extension. The TIBX files resulting fromDifferential backup

consolidation of backup versions are also

A backup method used for saving data changes

called backup versions.

that occurred since the last full backup version
within a backup. A backup process that creates

Backup version chain
Sequence of minimum two backup versions
that consist of the first full backup version anda differential backup version.

Differential backup version

the subsequent one or more incremental or

A differential backup version stores changes todifferential backup versions. Backup version

the data against the latest full backup version.

chain continues till the next full backup version

You need access to the corresponding full

(if any).

backup version to recover the data from adifferential backup version.

Bootable media
A physical media (CD, DVD, USB drive, or other

Disk backup (Image)

media supported by a machine BIOS as a bootA backup that contains a sector-based copy ofdevice) that contains standalone version ofa disk or a partition in packaged form.

Acronis True Image OEM. Bootable media is

Normally, only sectors that contain data aremost often used to recover an operating

copied. provides an option to take a raw image,system that cannot start, to access and back upthat is, copy all the disk sectors, which enables

the data that has survived in a corrupted

imaging of unsupported file systems.

151© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

F

code based on hash codes of the files selected

Full backup

to a Blockchain-based database.

for notarization, and then sends the hash code

A backup method that is used to save all thedata selected to back up. A backup process thatcreates a full backup version.

Notarized backup
A backup that contains files notarized withAcronis Notary.

Full backup version
A self- sufficient backup version containing all

Notarized filedata chosen for backup. You do not need

A file that was notarized with Acronis Notary. A

access to any other backup version to recover

file becomes notarized after adding it to athe data from a full backup version.

notarized backup and sending its hash code toa Blockchain-based database.

I

O

Incremental backup
A backup method used for saving data changes

Online backup

that occurred since the last backup version (ofOnline backup - a backup that is created using

any type) within a backup. A backup process

Acronis Online Backup. Online backups arethat creates an incremental backup version.

stored in a special storage named Cloud,accessible

A backup version that stores changes to thedata against the latest backup version. You
need access to other backup versions from the
backuptorestorethe

Internet.

The

main

advantage of an online backup is that all

Incremental backup version

same

over

data

from

an

incremental backup version.

backups are stored on the remote location. It
gives a guarantee that all backed up data will
be safe independently of a user local storages.

R
RecoveryM

Recovery is a process of returning of acorrupted data to a previous normal state from

Mobile backup
A backup that contains files from a mobile
device, such as a smartphone or tablet.

a backup.

S

N

Suspicious process

Notarization

Acronis Active Protection uses behavioral

A process of "remembering" a file state anddefining

this

state

as

authentic.

Duringnotarization, Acronis Notary calculates a hash152

heuristics and analyzes chains of actions done
by a program (a process), which is thencompared with the chain of events in a
database of malicious behavior patterns. If the© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

program acts similar to ransomware behavior
and tries to modify a user's files, it isconsidered as suspicious.

V
Validation
An operation that checks whether you will beable to recover data from a particular backup
version. For a full backup version, the program
validates the full backup version only. For adifferential

backupversion,theprogramvalidates the initial full backup version and theselected differential backup version. For an
incremental backup version, the program
validates the initial full backup version, theselected incremental backup version, and thewhole chain (if any) of backup versions to theselected incremental backup version. If thechain contains one or more differential backup
versions, the program validates (in addition to
the initial full backup version and the selected
incremental backup version) only the mostrecent differential backup version in the chain
and

all

subsequent

incremental

backupversions (if any) between the differential
backup version and the selected incremental
backup version.

153© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

IndexAdding a new hard disk 124
1
Adding an existing backup to the list 70
1. Entire PC backup “Two full versions” 52

2
2. File backup “Daily incremental version +weekly full version” 52

Adding drivers to an existing .wim image 115
Additional information 123
Advanced settings 46
Algorithm definition 132
Algorithm selection 130

3
Anti-ransomware protection 99
3. Disk backup “Full version every 2 months +differential version twice a month” 53
32-bit or 64-bit components 61

Antivirus scans 100
Arranging boot order in BIOS or UEFI BIOS 90
Authentication settings 33

A
B

About recovery of dynamic/GPT disks andvolumes 87
Acronis bootable media startup
parameters 114
Acronis DriveCleanser 129
Acronis Media Builder 111
Acronis Nonstop Backup 34
Acronis Nonstop Backup data storage 35
Acronis patented technologies 7
Acronis Smart Error Reporting 148
Acronis Startup Recovery Manager 122
Acronis System Report 147
Acronis True Image advanced features 14
Acronis True Image OEM button on thetaskbar 38
Acronis Universal Restore 84
Activating Acronis True Image OEM 12
Active protection 99

154

Backing up all data on your PC 18
Backing up data 42
Backing up disks and partitions 42
Backing up files and folders 43
Backing up your computer 16
Backing up your files 19
Backup activity and statistics 67
Backup file naming 37
Backup operations menu 66
Backup options 45
Backup protection 56
Backup reserve copy 60
Backup schemes 48
Backup splitting 58
Backup to various places 70
Backup validation option 59© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Basic concepts 25
D

Before you start 21

Daily backup parameters 47

Built-in store 14

Data destruction method 138
C
Changed Block Tracker (CBT) 30
Clean-up options 137
Clean-up progress 142
Clean-up settings 136
Cleaning up backup and replica versions
manually 72
Cleaning up backup versions automatically 71
Cleaning up backups, backup versions, andreplicas 70

Deciding where to store your backups 31
Default clean-up options 137
Deleting an entire backup and its replica 71
Deleting an entire backup replica 71
Differential method 29
Disk cloning and migration 103
Disk cloning utility 103
Disk recovery mode 93
Drive free space 139

Cleaning up replica versions automatically 71
E
Clone Disk wizard 103
Cloning a disk 21
Cloning your hard drive 21
Compression level 63
Computer restart 94
Computer shutdown 63
Computers 140
Configuring Antivirus scans 101
Converting Acronis backup 144

Edit user command for backup 58
Edit user command for recovery 94
Email notification 97
Error handling 61
Example of recovery to a UEFI system 88
Examples of custom schemes 52
Excluding items from backup 54
Excluding items from cloning 106

Copyright statement 7

F

Creating Acronis bootable media 18, 112

FAQ about backup, recovery and cloning 39

Creating an .iso file from a .wim file 116

File-level recovery in File Explorer 38

Creating custom algorithms 132

File-level security settings for backup 62

Creating new partitions 126

File recovery options 94

Custom schemes 51

File System 127
Files 138

155

© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Free disk space threshold 54, 96

Limitations on operations with dynamic
disks 11

FTP connection 32
Full method 28

M

Full, incremental and differential backups 27

Making sure that your bootable media can beused when needed 117

G
Managing custom backup schemes 51
General 137

Managing files in Quarantine 102

Getting started 16

Manual partitioning 105
H

Migrating to SSD using the backup andrecovery method 110

Hard Disk Wiping methods 131
Migrating your system from an HDD to an
How it works 34

SSD 108

How to collect crash dumps 149

Minimum system requirements 8

How to get access to a password-protected

Monthly backup parameters 47

backup 57
Mounting an image 142
How to mount an image 143
How to use .vhd(x) files 144

N

How to use Acronis DriveCleanser 129

Network connection transfer rate 64

How to use the default exclusion settings 55

Network places filter 141

I

Nonstop Backup - Frequently asked
questions 36

Image creation mode 56

Nonstop Backup limitations 34

Importing and exporting backup settings 145

Notifications for backup operation 54

Incremental method 28

Notifications for recovery operation 96

Installing and removing Acronis True Image
OEM 11O

Integration with Windows 37

Online backup protection 57

Introduction 8

Operation priority 64, 96
L

Operations with backups 66
Other requirements 9

Laptop power settings 66
Overwrite file options 95
Limitations and additional information 144

156© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

Recovery options 93
P

Removable media settings 60

Partition label 128

Resolving the most frequent issues 147

Partition letter 128

Retention rules 34

Partition properties 86
SPartition settings 127
Partition style after recovery 87
Partition type (these settings are available only
for MBR disks) 128

Saving algorithm to a file 134
Scheduling 46
Searching backup content 92

Performance of backup operation 63

Security and Privacy Tools 129

Performance of recovery operation 95

Selecting a data center for backup 65

Post-wiping actions 134

Selecting a hard disk 124

Pre/Post commands for backup 57

Selecting initialization method 125

Pre/Post commands for recovery 93

Selecting video mode when booting from the

Preparing a new disk for backup 32
Preparing for recovery 73

bootable media 121
Setting commands 141
Shortcut menu commands 38

Preview 142
Protecting your system 16

Single version scheme 49
Size 127

Protection 99

Snapshot for backup 64
R

Sorting backups in the list 69

Recovering data 73

Source selection 129

Recovering disks and partitions 73

Specific clean-up options 137

Recovering files and folders 91

Splitting backups on the fly 70

Recovering partitions and disks 85

SSD size 108

Recovering your computer 23

Supported file systems 10

Recovering your system after a crash 73

Supported Internet connection types 10

Recovering your system to a new disk underSupported operating systems 9bootable media 78
Recovering your system to the same disk 74
Recovery of basic volumes and disks 87

Supported storage media 10
System Clean-up 134
System requirements and supported media 8

Recovery of dynamic volumes 87
157© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022

What you can exclude and how 55
TTechnical Support 15

When the recovery is complete 84
When you do not have an Internet
connection 149

The Activity tab 67
The Antivirus settings 101

When you have an Internet connection 148
Which migration method to choose 108

The Backup tab 68
The difference between file backups anddisk/partition images 26

Why do I need it? 21, 129
Windows Start menu 38

The Protection dashboard 99

Wizards 38

Too many activations issue 13

Working with .vhd(x) files 144

Tools 111
Tray Notification Center 38
Troubleshooting 33, 147
Trying to determine the crash cause 73

U
Unmounting an image 143
Upgrading Acronis True Image OEM 13
Upon event execution parameters 48
User interface language 16

V
Validating backups 69
Validation option 94
Version chain scheme 50

W
Weekly backup parameters 47
What is Acronis True Image OEM? 8
What to do if Acronis True Image OEM does notrecognize your SSD 108
What to do if the above suggestions do not
help 110158© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2022